Southwest cancels hundreds of flights as it struggles to get its mechanical problems under control

NEW YORK CITY, N.Y.- Southwest Airlines continues to grapple with an "operational emergency" after an unusually high number of planes have been taken out of service. The Dallas-based airline has been forced to cancel hundreds of flights since late last week because of mechanical problems with its fleet. Despite an "all hands on-deck" staffing policy for its mechanics, the company has not been able to resolve its problems, Victoria Cavaliere and Rene Marsh reported for CNN Business.

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The Intelligent Aerospace take:

February 21, 2019 -Southwest Airlines reported 40 of its planes had maintenance issues on Tuesday, which was twice its daily average following the cancellation of hundreds of flights after mechanical problems were found in its fleet. The question remains how the low-cost giant will address the issues, but Southwest said in a statement to CNN Business that there's an "ongoing effort to track and voluntarily report operational data to the FAA so that we can mitigate and eliminate any operational risks."

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Jamie Whitney, Associate Editor
Intelligent Aerospace

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