Skywest flights grounded by technical problems

SALT LAKE CITY — SkyWest Airlines grounded about 700 flights Thursday because of an internal server outage, the company said in an email.

“SkyWest is experiencing an internal server outage and our IT teams are working to resolve the issue. We apologize to customers for the inconvenience and are working to resume normal operations as quickly as possible,” the email said.

Hundreds of passengers at the Salt Lake International Airport were captured in a Tweet standing in line waiting to be rebooked on other flights or given hotel rooms for the night.

How do you not have a back up server @Delta @SkyWestAirlines ? thousands of people stuck in Salt Lake City with all surrounding hotels sold out. 🤦🏼‍♀️ pic.twitter.com/BhXeQn0ykW

— Sophie Rosen (@sophiuhhhh) October 22, 2021

Reuters reports the problem was fixed after 5-hours and flights resumed Thursday evening.  But, a spokeswoman for Skywest said more flights may be canceled Friday morning as the airline works to get planes and crews back into position.

In a tweet, United Airlines confirmed the problems being experienced by their sister airline:

An IT outage is currently impacting departures with our flying partner, Skywest. We apologize for the delay and greatly appreciate your patience as they are working on resetting their servers. ^RA

— United Airlines (@united) October 21, 2021

Skywest Airlines is a regional carrier working with multiple airlines across the United States.  Passengers on American, United, Delta and Alaska Airlines had flights canceled with Skywest.

A response from Skywest Airlines management this morning states “we are working to minimize the impact on Friday’s schedule and to return to normal operations as quickly as possible.”

 This story is developing and will be updated.