Is Southwest still having issues?

No, we are not detecting any problems with Southwest Airlines right now. We last detected an outage for Southwest Airlines on Friday, November 10, 2023 with a duration of about 1 hour.



As of early 2026, Southwest Airlines has largely moved past the catastrophic operational meltdowns of previous years, having completed a massive $1 billion technological overhaul. The airline has significantly upgraded its crew-scheduling software and de-icing equipment to prevent the "cascading" delays seen in the past. More importantly, 2026 marks a historic shift in their business model; Southwest has officially transitioned to assigned seating and introduced "Extra Legroom" sections to compete with legacy carriers. While the change has caused some "growing pains" for longtime fans of the open-seating model, their operational reliability scores have returned to industry-standard levels. While minor delays due to weather or ATC still occur, the systemic "software-driven" failures that plagued them in 2022-2023 are no longer a recurring threat to travelers.

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Most major airlines canceled or delayed flights, but Southwest Airlines canceled at least 70% of its flights Monday -- more than 2,600 -- due to a reported system meltdown. The chaos continued Tuesday, with the airline canceling 62% of flights for the day and canceling 62% of flights on Wednesday.

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Southwest Is A Safe Airline
They are a favorite among travelers looking for cheap flights without having to compromise on comfort or security. According to the most recent list of the world's safest airlines, Southwest was ranked in the top 15 airlines in the world in 2021, even beating out Delta, American, and United.

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Southwest offers international flights to many popular travel destinations in Mexico, Costa Rica and the Caribbean so it is a great option for shorter international flights to warm tropical destinations.

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International service Southwest debuted the international reservation system on January 27, 2014, when its first international flights went on sale. This was followed by the first international flights which began on July 1, 2014, to Aruba (AUA), Montego Bay, Jamaica (MBJ) and Nassau, Bahamas (NAS).

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Southwest Is A Safe Airline
They are a favorite among travelers looking for cheap flights without having to compromise on comfort or security. According to the most recent list of the world's safest airlines, Southwest was ranked in the top 15 airlines in the world in 2021, even beating out Delta, American, and United.

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According to the Department of Transportation (DOT), there are tarmac delay rules that US airlines must follow: Carriers are not allowed to hold a domestic flight on the tarmac for more than three hours and an international flight for more than four hours, barring a couple of exceptions (like if the pilot deems it's ...

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At the airline's request, the FAA paused Southwest's departures as they resolved the issue. The pause has been lifted and their service has resumed. Early this morning, a vendor-supplied firewall went down and connection to some operational data was unexpectedly lost, spokesman Dan Landson said in a statement.

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