Southwest Airlines delays Atlanta travelers, again

ATLANTA - Tuesday was another day of travel trouble at the world’s busiest airport, specifically for Southwest Airlines passengers.

"I have a four-hour delay here," said Gina Davis.

The delays are the result of a morning ground stop of all Southwest Airlines flights. 

The airline says it was because of "data connection issues resulting from a firewall failure." 

More than 2,000 flights nationwide were impacted by Tuesday morning's technical issue.

According to FlightAware, about 100 of those flights were at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. 

This is the second time in less than six months Davis has been caught up in a Southwest Airlines computer issue. The last one was in December when more than 15,000 flights were canceled when the airline's crew scheduling software failed after a massive winter storm disrupted operations.

"This is the second time that they've had issues, so it's a little bit of a concern, but what are you going to do," she said.

Southwest Airlines was once again experience technical issues on April 18, 2023. (FOX 5)

The IT trouble plaguing Southwest has the pilot's union frustrated.

"It's a constant battle, you wake up in the morning and guess what's going to break today," said Michael Santoro, a Vice President at the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association. 

Santoro says after December's operational meltdown, IT upgrades have been slow. He says he knows the airline is working on it, but this latest disruption shows upgrades are needed.

"We continuously run into these challenges," he said. "It hits us pretty hard with our scheduling for the day and usually piles into the next day as well."

For travelers caught in the middle, delayed flights are leaving them annoyed.

"With travel, I guess you have to be patient," said Daryl Faybrick. "So, we'll just take it as it comes."