Southwest Airlines Ground Stop Lifted, Delays Persist

Hundreds of Southwest Airlines flights were experiencing delays Tuesday after technology issues forced the airline to request a nationwide ground stop. The issue is just the latest for the beleaguered airline that recently faced the ire of customers and government officials when travelers were left stranded over Christmas.

The FAA said the airline requested the pause Tuesday due to an "technical issue with one of their internal systems." Reports of issues with the airline's flights began emerging just after 10 a.m. eastern time when customers took to Twitter to complain about flight delays. The ground stop was lifted around 11 a.m. eastern.

In responses to customers' complaints, the airline said in a number of replies that it was experiencing "intermittent technology issues" and apologized for the delays.

According to FlightAware, just over 1,800 Southwest flights have been delayed Tuesday.

"Southwest has resumed operations after temporarily pausing flight activity this morning to work through data connection issues," the airline said in a statement on its website after the ground stop was lifted. "We offer our heartfelt apologies to Customers whose journey with us today might be delayed."

The airline also shared information on how customers may rebook travel if they had been delayed.

Anyone with a reservation for Tuesday can rebook in the original class of service or travel standby between the same two destinations within 14 days of the original date of travel without any extra fees. The airline also pointed customers to its accommodation procedures.

Customers who booked on the website or the Southwest app can reschedule their travel plans online or from their phone. Otherwise, customers can call 1-800-435-9792. Customers in the U.S. traveling internationally must call 1-800-435-9792 to rebook.

Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg said in a statement the department was watching to make sure the airline takes care of all passengers affected by the delays.

"Any customer not getting the accommodations or refunds they are owed should notify us through our website, and we'll follow up," Buttigieg said. He also pointed customers to the DOT website so they can be informed about their rights.

The nationwide grounding comes months after flights across the United States were canceled just before the New Year in what Buttigieg called a "meltdown" of the airline's system.

A winter storm just before Christmas caused chaos across the airline industry, but Southwest took longer to recover than any of its rivals, as a crew-scheduling system was unable to keep up. The airline wound up canceling 16,700 flights in late December.

“Their system really has completely melted down,” Buttigieg told CNN at the time. “I made clear that our department will be holding them accountable for their responsibilities to customers, both to get them through this situation and to make sure that this can’t happen again.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.