Southwest Reports Amadeus Outage as Flight Delays Top 1,200

DALLAS — Southwest Airlines (WN) switched to manual baggage and boarding procedures during an Amadeus outage on October 9, 2026, as more than 1,200 of its flights were reported delayed nationwide.

The airline told Nexstar that airport staff continued checking bags and boarding passengers manually while service was restored. Southwest described the interruption as brief and said flights slowed rather than halted.

KERA's report, carried by Texas Public Radio, cited FlightAware figures showing delays on about 27% of Southwest flights and roughly 40 cancellations. Those figures describe the reported flight-status snapshot; they do not establish how many disruptions were caused solely by the outage.

Manual Processing During the Outage

Southwest told KERA that Amadeus functionality was back by 12:30 CDT Friday. Dallas aviation department spokesperson Lauren Rounds separately said the interruption affected boarding-pass printing and mobile-app scanning.

Amadeus told Nexstar that the technical issue originated with a third-party technology provider and that its teams worked with that provider to restore operations. The statement did not identify the provider or explain the specific failure.

A Platform Used Across the Network

Southwest completed its transition to the Amadeus Altéa passenger service system in May 2017, bringing domestic and international reservations onto a common platform. Its announcement described capabilities including inventory management and automated rebooking during disruptions.

Friday's interruption affected passenger processing at airports. The company statements reviewed for this report do not identify which Altéa component, if any, failed.

The operational response also differed from American Airlines' nationwide IT ground stop in July, when departures were temporarily paused. Southwest said it continued operating through manual procedures.