Glitch Causes SouthWest Airlines To Cancel Numerous Oakland Flights

SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA - Southwest Airlines officials are telling passengers to arrive early at airports in the Bay Area Thursday because of the possibility of long lines after a technology outage Wednesday.

Long lines existed Thursday morning at Oakland International Airport, where Southwest operates out of Terminal 2, airport spokeswoman Keonnis Taylor said.

In San Jose, eighty Southwest Airlines passengers spent the night in Mineta San Jose International Airport because of the technology outage, an airport spokeswoman said.

San Jose airport officials were able to make some accommodations for the travelers and things are getting back to normal Thursday morning, airport spokeswoman Rosemary Barnes said.

Most systems were back online Thursday morning but travelers should check flight status information on Southwest.com since more than 300 flights had been canceled as of this morning, airline officials said.

Southwest explained its side of the issue this morning in a tweet:

Out of Oakland, 21 Southwest flights had been canceled as of shortly after 9 a.m.

At Mineta San Jose International Airport, twelve Southwest flights were canceled and 11 flights delayed Wednesday, Barnes said.

Two flights had been canceled out of San Francisco International Airport.

Airline officials said they will give passengers flexible rebooking accommodations through Sunday.

Nearly 700 flights were canceled Wednesday and hundreds more were delayed as a result of the outage.

-Bay City News; image via Bill Abbott/Flickr