The iciness hurricane that disrupted 1000’s of commute plans over the weekend has created an epic pile-on of flight cancellations for Southwest Airways, leaving 1000’s of households stranded, with some looking ahead to days to fly again house.
Two-thirds of Southwest’s flights have been been canceled as of Monday afternoon, in keeping with flight-tracking web page FlightAware — excess of some other airline. With some 2,700 Southwest flights canceled, every other 700 have been behind schedule Monday, FlightAware discovered.
On Monday afternoon, the board at Dallas Love Box, the airline’s major hub, confirmed each unmarried arrival were canceled, in keeping with reporter Kelly Laco.
The airline canceled greater than 1,600 flights on Sunday, and 1,300 on a daily basis closing week on Thursday and Friday.
Traveler Michael Bauzon and his circle of relatives deliberate on flying out of Orlando Global Airport on Friday to go back house to Indianapolis in time for Christmas on Sunday. As a substitute, the 4 spent the vacations in a resort after their flight was once canceled, Bauzon advised CBS associate WKMG, and have been again on the airport on Monday — the place they persevered to attend.
“This morning we were given right here at 4:30 for a 7:05 flight, we regarded it up, and oh it had simply been canceled,” he stated, gesturing to a line snaking in entrance of the Southwest carrier counter. “It is a four- to five-hour line … prior to they may be able to get us on a flight — if they may be able to get us on a flight,” he stated.
Common hurricane, out of date tech
In a remark Monday that opened with “heartfelt apologies,” Southwest stated that its geography made it “uniquely” at risk of the hurricane, with part of the airports wherein it flies suffering from iciness climate.
“We have been totally staffed and ready for the upcoming vacation weekend when the critical climate swept around the continent, the place Southwest is the most important service in 23 of the highest 25 commute markets in the U.S. This compelled day-to-day adjustments to our flight agenda at a quantity and magnitude that also has the gear our groups use to get well the airline working at capability,” the statement stated.
“We watch for further adjustments with an already diminished degree of flights as we way the approaching New 12 months vacation commute length,” it famous.
The corporate additionally blames a loss of era. “A part of what we are struggling is a loss of gear. We have talked an terrible lot about modernizing the operation, and the want to do this,” CEO Bob Jordan stated in an inner message on Sunday that was once reported by means of a number of media shops and the flight attendants’ union.
Jammed telephone strains, techniques
Southwest directed consumers clear of jammed telephone strains, noting that it was once experiencing “system problems” amid increased call for.
Spokesperson Chris Perry stated the airline’s on-line reserving and check-in techniques are nonetheless working, however have been additionally jammed on account of “abnormally top” volumes of site visitors on their website. “We’re re-accommodating as many Consumers as conceivable in line with to be had area,” he advised CBS Information.
As Southwest blamed technological problems, the flight attendants’ union, Transit Staff Union 556, accused the airline of contributing to the issue by means of underinvesting in era for years.
“The loss of era has left the airline depending on guide answers and private telephone calls, leaving flight attendants on dangle with Southwest Airways for as much as 17 hours at a time merely to be launched to move house after their go back and forth, or whilst making an attempt to protected a resort room or know the place their subsequent go back and forth will probably be,” the union stated in a remark. “Whilst reroutes and rescheduling are understood to be part of the activity within the airline business, the large scale of the failure during the last few days issues to a shirking of duty over a few years for making an investment in and imposing era that might assist remedy for most of the problems that plague flight attendants and passengers alike.”
The union and airline were in contract negotiations for 4 years.
— With reporting by means of Zel Elvi and Kathryn Krupnik.
