Southwest Airlines Says Technology Issues Delay Some Flights
DALLAS (AP) — Southwest Airlines is asking travelers to arrive at least two hours before their scheduled departures as technical issues are forcing it to check-in some customers manually.
At Los Angeles International Airport earlier in the day, several dozen people crowded the Southwest terminal waiting to be issued hand-written tickets. The Dallas-based company said late Sunday afternoon that about 450 of the 3,600 flights scheduled for the day had been delayed so far.
To ease the long lines, Southwest is asking customers to use airport kiosks to print boarding passes and tags for luggage.
The long lines at check-in may mean some passengers didn't make their flights.
Emily Mitnick, who was flying to Detroit from Denver International Airport, said she missed her 10 a.m. flight, even though she parked her car around 8 a.m. She estimated that about 1,000 people were online at the check-in for a boarding pass. When she went downstairs to the curb-side check-in, she said there were about a couple hundred people in line there as well.
By the time she got on line to go through security, it was around 10:15 a.m.
"The clock was ticking and the flight took off," said Mitnick, who was trying to get to Detroit through a different flight to Chicago.
In a statement, Southwest said late Sunday afternoon that it was still having intermittent technical issues on its website, mobile app and in its phone centers and airports check-in systems. It said that while it is working on the issues, workers at airports are helping customers with their itineraries.
Representatives for Southwest did not say what caused the problem, or how much longer it was expected to last.
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