Southwest Airlines faces travel disruptions due to IT outage

Southwest Airlines experienced significant travel disruptions on Friday following an IT system outage that affected check-in and baggage handling processes. The disruption, which began around 8:00 a.m. ET, caused long lines at airports in several states, including California, Florida, Maryland, Ohio, Tennessee, and Utah.

Southwest Airlines attributed the issue to a brief interruption involving its IT vendor, Amadeus IT Group. Amadeus provides the back-end systems used by many airlines for bookings, boarding, and baggage management. While some passengers reported that flights were grounded nationwide, the airline clarified that flights were not suspended, but rather slowed down due to the transition to manual processing methods, such as hand-written baggage tags.

Amadeus stated that the technical issue originated from a third-party provider and that their teams worked to restore normal operations. Reports of system instability peaked around 8:50 a.m. ET, with service gradually stabilizing throughout the day.