Travelers frustrated after ‘technology meltdown’ grounds thousands of Southwest flights

For a short time Tuesday morning, the FAA ordered every Southwest Airlines flight to a ground stop due to a computer problem.

Many travelers say it brought back bad memories of what some called a “nightmare” last Christmas when 17,000 flights were canceled over a 10-day period.

Southwest Airlines departures were halted for just over 20 minutes, but it was still long enough to throw a wrench into the rest of the day.

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Channel 2′s Berndt Petersen was inside Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport Tuesday morning as travelers became increasingly frustrated.

“I woke up and didn’t see an email saying this, so I didn’t even check it,” Yolanda Adams said.

Around 1,800 flights were delayed across the country.

The FAA forced the planes to stop taking off after Southwest reported “technology issues.” They say the airline requested the pause.

The Dallas-based carrier issued a statement blaming the delays on data connection issues that resulted in a firewall failure.

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The airline’s pilot’s union called the incident “yet another technology meltdown” on social media.

TaSauna and Kennedy Smith were heading to Dallas from Atlanta when their flight was delayed.

“We’re about 30 minutes right now. We’ll see when we get to the gate,” they told Petersen.

The airlines and the pilot’s association have been mired in contract negotiations, which has been a point of reference in their social media posts.

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