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The Federal Aviation Administration said on Tuesday morning that it had stopped Southwest Airlines flights from taking off at the airline’s request and the company said that it was working to resolve technical problems.
The disruption comes just a few months after a meltdown around the Christmas holiday that cost Southwest more than $1 billion, frustrated millions of travelers and brought on tough scrutiny from federal lawmakers and regulators.
The airline said it had taken numerous steps in recent months to prevent another widespread disruption, including monitoring its network more closely for early signs of stress, updating crew scheduling software and training workers to help with operations when needed.
The airline had canceled few flights by midmorning on Tuesday, but more than 1,200 of its flights were delayed, about 30 percent of its schedule for the day, according to FlightAware, an aviation data firm.
“As a result of the intermittent technology issues that we experienced, we should hopefully be resuming our operation as soon as possible,” the airline said in a message on Twitter.
The F.A.A. referred additional questions to Southwest. The airline did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Southwest is expected to report financial results for the first three months of the year next week.
This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.
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Niraj Chokshi
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