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- Regional carrier SkyWest Airlines canceled more than 1,000 flights over two days due to a server issue.
- The five-hour outage left flight crews displaced and passengers facing long delays and cancellations.
- The disruptions impacted the carrier's mainline partners, forcing them to accommodate thousands of passengers.
Regional carrier SkyWest Airlines suffered a system outage late Thursday disrupting over 700 flights and impacting thousands of travelers.
United, Delta, and American regional partner SkyWest experienced a server issue that led to mass cancellations Thursday and Friday, according to the airline. The five-hour hiccup crippled the carrier's network, displacing flight crews and aircraft and leaving passengers delayed for hours at airports or forced to overnight.
-Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) October 22, 2021
SkyWest was back up and running late Thursday evening, but the damage to its mainline partners was already done.
According to USA Today, American Airlines had to cancel or delay about 170 flights on Thursday and 50 on Friday, and that it was working to rebook passengers and provide hotel vouchers for those stranded. Meanwhile, Alaska Airlines tweeted that the company is "diligently working on accommodations" but its "options are limited."
Delta Air Lines, which is another SkyWest partner, said it is working to get customers to their final destination.
"Our technical teams engaged with SkyWest IT to resolve the issue and minimize the impact on our customers. We are working with customers directly to accommodate them to their destination as soon as possible and apologize for the inconvenience," Delta told USA Today.
As of Friday morning, SkyWest has delayed 4% of its flights and canceled 14%, which totaled about 300 flights, according to data from FlightAware.
"SkyWest experienced an internal technical issue resulting in approximately 700 flight cancellations before the issue was resolved Thursday evening," a SkyWest spokesperson told Insider. "We apologize to customers for the inconvenience; we are working to minimize the impact on Friday's schedule and to return to normal operations as quickly as possible."
SkyWest is the latest airline to have an operational breakdown this month. Over Columbus Day weekend, Southwest Airlines was forced to cancel over 2,000 flights due to a combination of weather, air traffic control issues, and staffing shortages. The airline has since apologized for the disruptions and is offering impacted travelers "LUV vouchers" of up to $250, which is on top of any refunds.