Southwest warns fliers to print boarding passes as technical issues delay flights

Reporting from Dallas —  Southwest Airlines said hundreds of flights had been delayed by technical issues and warned passengers flying Monday to arrive two hours early and print boarding passes before coming to the airport.

The Dallas-based company said it was using back-up systems around the country to check in travelers lacking printed or mobile boarding passes, but technology problems that began Sunday morning were continuing. Southwest said about 450 of the 3,600 flights scheduled for the day had been delayed.

Representatives for Southwest did not say what caused the problem or how long it would take to resolve. Spokesman Brad Hawkins said there was “absolutely no indication now” that the problems were the result of hacking.

At Los Angeles International Airport earlier in the day, several dozen people crowded the Southwest terminal waiting to be issued handwritten tickets.

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E.J. Schultz, a reporter for Ad Age who was taking a Southwest flight from Chicago’s Midway International Airport, said the airline was telling people at the gate that travelers with paper boarding passes were fine. But those who had downloaded their tickets onto their mobile phones were told they had to stand in line, he said.

Schultz said he didn’t understand why Southwest didn’t announce that people should print out their boarding passes at home before getting to the airport.

“If everyone had done that, it would’ve saved so much time,” he said.

Schultz said there was a line of about 50 people at the Southwest gate. His flight took off roughly 15 minutes after its scheduled departure time of 4:30.

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., because of huge lines at check-in and at curbside. By the time she got in line to go through security, it was about 10:15 a.m.

“The clock was ticking and the flight took off,” said Mitnick, who was in the process of trying to get to Detroit through a different flight to Chicago.

Last month, American Airlines experienced computer problems that prevented passengers from checking in and briefly halted flights on select routes. Airline officials said at the time that they fixed the problem after less than two hours and that there was no indication that the airline’s system had been hacked.

In July, hundreds of United Airlines flights were delayed after the airline experienced computer problems for the second time in just over a month. A United representative said at the time that the glitch was caused by an internal technology issue and not an outside threat or hacker.

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