Travelers react as computer woes ground Southwest planes and strand passengers

Southwest computer woes continue, grounding planes and stranding passengers

On June 15, there were reports of outages affecting the airline's check-in counter at multiple airports. A similar technical issue forced all of Southwest’s flights to be grounded the night before. FOX 10's Jennifer Martinez reports.

PHOENIX - For the second day in a row, Southwest Airlines experienced computer problems that canceled and delayed flights, all the while stranding thousands of passengers.

On June 15, there were reports of outages affecting the airline's check-in counter at multiple airports. A similar technical issue forced all of Southwest’s flights to be grounded Monday night. The problem reportedly began at 8 p.m. and it took several hours to get the first few grounded Southwest flights cleared for takeoff.

The Dallas-based airline said a glitch prevented weather data from being sent to flight crews. That information is required to fly safely.

Travelers speak out

Southwest's computer woes have created a mess for all travelers.

One young woman, Payton Schnell, says she lives here, and she has been wanting to go to Wisconsin after a year of not seeing her family.

Now, her trip is cut short.

"My flight yesterday ended up getting canceled. Nothing can fly out. I got rescheduled for a flight today, for this evening at 6:50, so when I woke up and all of a sudden got a notification that my flight was completely canceled, I wasn’t able to get any information on why it was canceled," said Schnell.

Schnell is determined to get to her family, but she was not able to get through to customer service. So, she headed to the airport to get some answers. At the airport, however, she faced another long wait.

"I waited in line for two-and-a-half hours, just trying to get through the line of cancellations and everything, and the most stressful part for me is it but I have to go on another flight, and they booked me for tomorrow. I'm flying out, so hopefully that goes out tomorrow, but my bag has been checked for the last two days, and I have no clothes, I have nothing, They couldn’t locate my bag for a while," said Schnell.

Others have complained about getting stuck on the tarmac. One mother said she was waiting for her daughter, who she says was on a plane.

"I didn't hear from my daughter, but her plane couldn’t pull in, so the passengers gonna come off. I've just been waiting for an hour so far," said the mother.