Last weekend American Airlines was in the news for canceling and delaying lots of flights, and this weekend it’s Southwest Airlines that seems to be having the most issues.
In this post:
Southwest Airlines facing operational meltdown
Looking at published data, Southwest Airlines has either canceled or delayed nearly 4,000 flights over a three day period (and counting), with no end in sight to these issues. Here’s how many cancelations and delays we’ve seen from Southwest between Friday and today:
- On Friday, June 25, 2021, Southwest canceled 254 flights (6% of the schedule) and delayed 1,575 flights (42% of the schedule)
- On Saturday, June 26, 2021, Southwest canceled 307 flights (9% of the schedule) and delayed 1,440 flights (42% of the schedule)
- On Sunday, June 27, 20217, Southwest canceled 38 flights (1% of the schedule) and delayed 308 flights (8% of the schedule)
I would imagine the number of cancelations and delays will continue to grow as the day goes on. While cancelations seem to be more under control today than yesterday, I would expect that we’ll probably see 1,000+ delays again today (Sunday). I’d hope that the schedule stabilizes a bit as the week starts, but given what a busy week it will be for travel, I’m skeptical.
While Southwest is rebooking people as much as possible, many passengers are finding that the next flight with availability is only a couple of days later. This comes as we’re seeing a record number of travelers since the start of the pandemic, with domestic flights being just about as full as they were pre-pandemic.
What’s the cause of Southwest’s cancelations?
Officially a Southwest Airlines spokesperson blames these cancelations on the weather and air traffic control:
“To proactively manage our operation, we implemented a scheduled reduction ahead of expected storms and probable air traffic control initiatives.”
In all likelihood that doesn’t tell the full story, and certainly doesn’t explain roughly half of flights being either delayed or canceled for the past couple of days (especially when you consider other airlines aren’t having issues to this extent). While weather definitely contributed to delays and cancelations, the much bigger cause is likely the extent to which airlines’ operations are being pushed to the limits right now.
Many major carriers in the United States are short staffed across various roles, from pilots to rampers. Airlines are obviously excited about the sudden surge in demand for travel, and went about setting up their summer schedules in an optimistic way. Clearly Southwest was a bit too optimistic, and we’re seeing the impacts of that right now.
When things go wrong in the airline industry there tends to be a domino effect. So yes, on some level weather has contributed to these issues. But what we’re seeing at Southwest goes beyond that.
Bottom line
Southwest Airlines is either canceling or delaying thousands of flights. On Friday 48% of Southwest flights were either delayed or canceled, which yesterday 51% of Southwest flights were either delayed or canceled — that’s terrible. While this is officially being blamed on weather, it clearly also reflects the extent to which Southwest’s operation is being pushed to the limit right now.
Have any OMAAT readers been impacted by Southwest’s operational issues?
I had planned a trip along with my wife and kids. Our flight was scheduled to depart at 5:00 A.M. However, my wife’s boss requested her to host a meeting with one of their clients. So, I talked to the representative who informed me about the Southwest cancel flight online procedures and charges applied by the airline. Thanks to the customer support, they helped me a lot.
I’m currently in SLC, and this morning (6/29) paid $122 to change my flight home, so I’d arrive a bit earlier. Not 10 minutes after the change was made, I received a message from Southwest that there was an issue with ATC, and my flight was going to be delayed in departure, causing a domino effect, making it impossible to get my connection from Las Vegas to home.
Delta placed all the blame on...
I’m currently in SLC, and this morning (6/29) paid $122 to change my flight home, so I’d arrive a bit earlier. Not 10 minutes after the change was made, I received a message from Southwest that there was an issue with ATC, and my flight was going to be delayed in departure, causing a domino effect, making it impossible to get my connection from Las Vegas to home.
Delta placed all the blame on ATC, and though they apologized and rebooked me (on flights 2+ hours later), there was no mention of any refund and/or compensation for my trip home being upended. Obviously, very frustrated.
~ e
Maybe spend less effort abusing toddlers and kicking them off your planes and more effort running your airline properly? ♂️
We got canceled on Sat for a flight to Atlanta. Then we were booked to Chicago.... FOR OVERNIGHT ( to fly from there the next day) where we HAD TO PAY $259.00 FOR A ROOM $11O. 00 FOR TWO TAXI 'S BECAUSE OF OUR LARGE BAGS, AND OUT AND 3 MEALS $ 178.95 ( ALL OUT OF OUR OWN POCKET) SO WE COULD FLY OUT THE NEXT DAY TO MYRTLE BEACH, THEN ORLANDO, THEN TO...
We got canceled on Sat for a flight to Atlanta. Then we were booked to Chicago.... FOR OVERNIGHT ( to fly from there the next day) where we HAD TO PAY $259.00 FOR A ROOM $11O. 00 FOR TWO TAXI 'S BECAUSE OF OUR LARGE BAGS, AND OUT AND 3 MEALS $ 178.95 ( ALL OUT OF OUR OWN POCKET) SO WE COULD FLY OUT THE NEXT DAY TO MYRTLE BEACH, THEN ORLANDO, THEN TO ST. LEWIS THE ATLANTA.
AND WHAT DID THEY GIVE US. 2 $ 100. 00 VOCHERS. SO WE HAVE TO PAY FOR TWO MORE TICKETS AS S YOU CAN ONLY US ONE PER TRIP. THEY USED TO BE MY GO TO AIRLINE...NOT ANYMORE!! We paid over $400.00 out of pocket for their s rew ups!!!
There is no way to stretch this rubber band any tighter . It’s going up take time and patience .
Staff shortages and cyber attacks. Could get a lot worse.
Delayed on all 7 of my flights this past week. I've spent more time sitting in a Southwest airplane at the gate (waiting for a pilot) than actual time in the air. Every single flight delayed >3 hrs after boarding and one cancelled.
Don't fly Southwest.
My daughter and her two children were coming from Pennsylvania tonight into Utah. I haven't seen them for many years and we are keeping it a secret from their cousins. My daughter only has one week off from her job, so the time together was short to begin with. I worry about them not being able to come at all with each day's delaying. It's a shame that other airlines aren't allowed to help out....
My daughter and her two children were coming from Pennsylvania tonight into Utah. I haven't seen them for many years and we are keeping it a secret from their cousins. My daughter only has one week off from her job, so the time together was short to begin with. I worry about them not being able to come at all with each day's delaying. It's a shame that other airlines aren't allowed to help out. I'm worried that I may never see my daughter and grandchildren again. Her job is very demanding and they need her, so getting time off work later would be very difficult. I pray they can get a safe journey home to us tomorrow .
i have a flight from Austin to Chicago Midway on july 12 with a connecting flight to portland maine that same day. Will this flight to. portland still fly?? Will I be notified of any cancellations within the next week?
I have tickets for 3 months now and our flight time change happened about a month or so ago. I hope it does nit change again going fir a wedding. I love southwest.
I had to totally change my sons, 15yr old, flight to the next day last week. Coming home today they refused to let him board his flight as they canceled the connecting flight. He was stranded at 15 with the closest relative over 2 hrs away. The customer agent refused to talk on the phone with me and booked him for a noon flight today without talking to me. They all refused to talk on...
I had to totally change my sons, 15yr old, flight to the next day last week. Coming home today they refused to let him board his flight as they canceled the connecting flight. He was stranded at 15 with the closest relative over 2 hrs away. The customer agent refused to talk on the phone with me and booked him for a noon flight today without talking to me. They all refused to talk on the phone to an adult and were trying to figure this all out with a 15yr old. SMH...I dont knownif ill remain loyal to SWA. No compensation was offered. I had to beg for them to feed him which he never go the ticket even though they said they would.
I was booked on a flight Friday that was supposed to take off at 4:35pm from Phoenix to Ft Lauderdale. Blaming it on weather is bull! Weather was perfect. Taxied out to the runway and sat there. Pilot gets on the intercom and states that routes in and out of airport are closed no matter what direction you we’re going. I was on Southwest, but there were no other airlines going in or out either....
I was booked on a flight Friday that was supposed to take off at 4:35pm from Phoenix to Ft Lauderdale. Blaming it on weather is bull! Weather was perfect. Taxied out to the runway and sat there. Pilot gets on the intercom and states that routes in and out of airport are closed no matter what direction you we’re going. I was on Southwest, but there were no other airlines going in or out either. We also had no internet or WiFi. Then we remembered that her majesty, “Queen Kamala” was taking off from El Paso after “fake” visiting the border. We didn’t take off until almost 9:30pm. By the time we landed it was 5:00am in Ft Lauderdale. I don’t think any flights delayed or canceled on this day or time had anything to do with weather!!!
Southwest pilot helped us find a hotel when our Delta flight was cancelled. Delta did not have gate agents to rebook or secure housing. Boo hoo Delta and way to go Southwest. We will NEVER fly Delta again.
After booking our non-stop flights, rental car, pet care, and hotel stays many many months in advance, a couple of weeks before the actual flights we were informed that those had been cancelled and that we now had a flight getting into NC 4 hours later, and the flight back now had a layover in Tampa and would now get us back 4 hours later. This change in arrival into NC caused us increased costs...
After booking our non-stop flights, rental car, pet care, and hotel stays many many months in advance, a couple of weeks before the actual flights we were informed that those had been cancelled and that we now had a flight getting into NC 4 hours later, and the flight back now had a layover in Tampa and would now get us back 4 hours later. This change in arrival into NC caused us increased costs due to other previously scheduled travel plans. However, we did not complain. Upon arrival at St. Louis airport, we were informed the plane was delayed coming in from Las Vegas. Perfect weather in both. After several more issues we finally left about 1.5 hours later than scheduled, which got us in so late that we missed the next scheduled travel plans we had. Yet we still did not complain. Coming back was a complete fiasco. Drove 2.5 hours to drop off rental car and get to RDU airport, only to be informed once again that the flight was delayed. After all delays we were on our way to Tampa, which would get us in 10 minutes prior to that flight leaving for St. Louis. Well, luckily it was also delayed .5 hours, but eventually left 2 hours late. This was partially weather related, but the last 30-40 minutes was because they had not brought the luggage for all the folks transferring off the earlier late flight, to this flight. Nearly 1.5 hours after arriving at C34 and this flight leaving from C36, only about 40 feet away. This got us back so late that it cost us additional parking and pet fees for the day. So, all in all, the lack of Southwests ability to be prepared for travel season, cost my family a full day of our vacation, as well as many additional costs that never should have fell upon us, their customers, that planned well in advance for our first vacation in nearly two years. So, now I am complaining.
Looks like I picked a bad time to fly SWA(Tuesday and Thursday(
How is it going? I’m supposed to fly SW tomorrow Orlando Fl to Austin Tx
I am sitting on a delayed fight now. Going from Dallas to Houston this flight should take 45 minutes and they are now saying it will be a 2 hour flight because of weather. There is no weather here. My connection in Houston now takes off T 11PM I will not land in Milwaukee until 2AM. This is the second week in a row for me with this nonsense.
Having been on one of the 'delayed' flights on Friday, I can promise you that weather did not come into play with our delay until looonnggg after the delay for the 14 deadheaders that we had to wait for! After that 45 minutes or so, THEN weather moved in and we were delayed for about 1/2 hour. I blame only Southwest and not the weather. Had we departed even close to ontime, the weather would not have been an issue
Prior to airline deregulation in 1978, Southwest would have been bound by the FAA's Rule 240.
Rule 240
The FAA's Rule 240 predates the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978, when the FAA required carriers with delayed or canceled flights to transfer travelers to another carrier if the second one could get them to their final destination more quickly than the original airline.
This is one rule I wish they had kept.
The fact is that SWA is severely understaffed. Rampers are being forced to work heavy flights back to back under extreme weather conditions. Mandatory overtime with as little as 3 hours of sleep. Greed over people is the current M.O.
We were stranded 3000 miles from home on Sunday when our flight was cancelled 4 hours before we were flying out. Our reservations were booked o er 6 months in advance and they would not accommodate and lodging for the 7 of us due 5o the issue being weather! However, 15 other people in our party flew out of the same airport on different airlines the same day for the same destination with no issues. Hmmmm....doesnt sound like weather to me!!
Hi everyone, I can understand the frustration. We are all coming out of a world wide pandemic. I appreciate being alive and I appreciate all the people who work in the aviation industry. There is so much involved to get people from A to B safely. Ground crews and pilots that have been laid off need to be recertified. The Air Transportation is a choreograph ballet. I believe everyone should take a step back and...
Hi everyone, I can understand the frustration. We are all coming out of a world wide pandemic. I appreciate being alive and I appreciate all the people who work in the aviation industry. There is so much involved to get people from A to B safely. Ground crews and pilots that have been laid off need to be recertified. The Air Transportation is a choreograph ballet. I believe everyone should take a step back and say how can I help with this problem and make it easier for all of us.
I am a big fan of SWABUT THIS IS SO AWFUL,!!!! I'M so sorry to all the passengers that got nowhere! Esp. the person who couldn't make his Grandmother's funeral!!! God almighty pilots and crew get back to work!!! Thanks to YOU'RE actions you're hurting the passengers. Please get to you're senses.✈️
George Brown, why are you blaming the “pilots and crew” for not getting back to work? Airlines furloughed employees, they offered early them early retirements, and now they don’t have enough workers. And then when they do call folks back, they have to be retrained. That takes time. So before you misplace blame, do a little research dude. Hopefully you’re not one of those who was just looking to take a cheap shot at unionized employees….
Why are you wrongfully blaming Crew Members? Please explain. Do you know something that others, including Crew Members do not know?
Are they still cancelling floghts?
It was a nightmare for us Saturday, June 26th! We arrived at MCO to a text message saying our flight was canceled. Click the link to reschedule. You clicked the link and it took you to all the flights and everything said unavailable. Southwest terminal was a nightmare! Waited in line for 3 hours to go to the desk. We said we would fly anywhere in New England. Hartford, Providence, Boston, Manchester. The earliest flight...
It was a nightmare for us Saturday, June 26th! We arrived at MCO to a text message saying our flight was canceled. Click the link to reschedule. You clicked the link and it took you to all the flights and everything said unavailable. Southwest terminal was a nightmare! Waited in line for 3 hours to go to the desk. We said we would fly anywhere in New England. Hartford, Providence, Boston, Manchester. The earliest flight was days away. So unacceptable. Apparently this is the new Southwest Airlines and I warn everyone to NEVER fly them. They didn't give a hoot! No help booking another flight with another airline, no hotel vouchers, no food vouchers. We then waited in line for over an hour to try and rent a car to drive home 1500 miles. I won't even tell you how much that cost. Southwest Airlines is no longer the same. They do not care anymore. Do NOT fly them!
Saturday-Printed off my boarding pass for a SEA-DEN-MEM flight booked since February. By the time I drove to the airport and turned in my rental...flight had been rebooked for Monday. Counter agent kept saying it was the weather therefore, getting home was my responsibility. Just turned in my rental...which there is a shortage, no hotels within miles available...and when I asked where me and my two kids were supposed to sleep until Monday, she replied...
Saturday-Printed off my boarding pass for a SEA-DEN-MEM flight booked since February. By the time I drove to the airport and turned in my rental...flight had been rebooked for Monday. Counter agent kept saying it was the weather therefore, getting home was my responsibility. Just turned in my rental...which there is a shortage, no hotels within miles available...and when I asked where me and my two kids were supposed to sleep until Monday, she replied "have you seen all the people sleeping in tents on the street? A couple of nights without a bed won't kill you and your boys." No shit...right out her mouth. Sent packing without even credit for a cup of coffee to figure shit out. Alaska Airlines had seats on the nonstop from SEA-BNA...had to sleep in the terminal and then pay $300 for a one way rental to MEM. No Luv here.
Are they only cancelling current flights? Have
future flights been cancelled?
We were on a flight Friday. Three hour delay because they couldn't find us a pilot. A Southwest employee said that the pilots don't want to come back and there is a severe shortage. Fortunately we were a non-stop. Several passengers had to leave the plane to rebook as it was too late to make their connection.
My flights were all cancelled yesterday and I ended up missing my grandmother's funeral in Chicago due to southwest, I had my flights booked since Wednesday and all were cancelled only hours before take off, after the final cancelation it was too late and everything was full, I am very upset since she is being cremated and they were giving me time to say goodbye to her body
This is hilarious considering how sophomoric and cliche-laden your posts are. And cute propaganda speech.
Try having an original thought sometime. I know that's asking for a miracle, but at least try.
I'm so glad i flew last week no trouble, staff in great spirits. How it gets better. Unbroken insurance is to blame. People don't want to go to work.
Yesterday was also a rough day at American as the departure board was all yellow and red. It took me 14 hrs to finally make it home for a normal 5 hr trip. Where did the pilots go?
Keep asking Questions.
Health of pilots is a big question for me. The vast majority of pilots got the Jab.
Altitude, long days, a blood clots do not mix. Question: Do these go hand in hand with pilots not being able to perform their duties???
Oh, don't forget how hard it must be to fly with all the metal objects attaching to their faces given that we are now magnetized from Vaccines. At least we know where to find the pilots though, Gates has them on his tracking device at home if we need.
You anti vaxxers are quite funny, lol.
Southwest finished yesterday with 9% of flights cancelled (over 300) and 42% delayed. They are starting today with 1% cancelled while American has 2% cancelled but most other airlines had 2-3% cancelled. Delta and Spirit had no passenger flight cancellations. Delta was the only one of the big 4 that had on-time better than 20%.
I suspect that weekends in the summer are part of the problem and expect these numbers will go down,...
Southwest finished yesterday with 9% of flights cancelled (over 300) and 42% delayed. They are starting today with 1% cancelled while American has 2% cancelled but most other airlines had 2-3% cancelled. Delta and Spirit had no passenger flight cancellations. Delta was the only one of the big 4 that had on-time better than 20%.
I suspect that weekends in the summer are part of the problem and expect these numbers will go down, perhaps aggravated next weekend by staff unwilling to work overtime over a holiday.
Will be interesting to watch but booking weekend travel might be alot riskier for controlling your plans.
"It is obvious that demand for air travel exceeds supply. In any situation in which demand exceeds supply the best short-term solution is to raise prices."
Think you've nailed it. I'm amazed at what it cost for a simple DC to ORD or MKE flight even weeks or months out. Very expensive! Flew IAD - ORD on UA yesterday. The plane was completely full. The purser said it's been very busy. Even with the mask...
"It is obvious that demand for air travel exceeds supply. In any situation in which demand exceeds supply the best short-term solution is to raise prices."
Think you've nailed it. I'm amazed at what it cost for a simple DC to ORD or MKE flight even weeks or months out. Very expensive! Flew IAD - ORD on UA yesterday. The plane was completely full. The purser said it's been very busy. Even with the mask mandate, which I detest, and higher fares, people are traveling and that's a good thing.
It is obvious that demand for air travel exceeds supply. In any situation in which demand exceeds supply the best short-term solution is to raise prices. This will incentiveze current suppliers (airline companies) to provide more services, including more flights, and new companies to enter the market. When that happens of course equilibrium is restored, prices must drop due to greater competition, and everybody is happy. Or happier, at least.
We had reservations on Southwest to fly out on Tuesday June 15th at 9:10am, received a text Tuesday at 12:59am that we were cancelled and rebooked on June 16th same flight and times. So, it's not just this weekend. Also made us pay for an extra night at the hotel because we do the park and fly the night before. No explanation at all! Good thing we didn't have plans on the 16th!!
Trim down the Hoverpaid, worthless, useless management..Retain thefrontline personnels working hard to support Airline Operatuons.
Over Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter, it was Delta with the mass cancelations due to staff shortages.
Last weekend, it was American.
Now, it's Southwest.
Doesn't excuse any of them, but this is definitely an industry-wide issue now, not just limited to one or two airlines. Only a matter of time before everyone else falls into this trap or corrects these issues before it plagues them too.
Wow, Trevor! Harsh...
Denise is right. Right about medical care delivery, too. (Off topic: Kaiser Permanente in Hawai’i, is still in a near-shutdown state. It takes a series of interviews with different staff members, followed by a decision from a committee of three nurses to book an appointment, 6 weeks out for a serious health problem. However, you more likely to not get over all these hurdles.)
Back to the same capacity problems with airlines: In Hawai’i one...
Denise is right. Right about medical care delivery, too. (Off topic: Kaiser Permanente in Hawai’i, is still in a near-shutdown state. It takes a series of interviews with different staff members, followed by a decision from a committee of three nurses to book an appointment, 6 weeks out for a serious health problem. However, you more likely to not get over all these hurdles.)
Back to the same capacity problems with airlines: In Hawai’i one must travel inter-island for specialty healthcare. I found it an immense hassle with long delays (half hour to several hours), to book flights on Hawaiian Airlines. It took both their web-based, user-interfaced system AND their telephone agent system to make confirmed reservations and again to make a simple change in flight plan.
The biggest part of the delay both online and on telephone was waiting for their computer system to officially book the flight and issue the electronic ticket. After hitting the enter key, just a spinning wheel for 20 minutes.
I’ll grant Hawai’i now has more travelers than before the pandemic and I can understand businesses thinking tourism would ramp up gradually. Most businesses just figured they would ramp up operations gradually just behind demand. Service would lag but not not so much as to be virtually shutdown. Right now getting supplies to run your business is problematic because materials distribution from Oahu to Hawai’i Island was cut in half when one of two weekly barges from Oahu was eliminated during the pandemic. Most businesses did nothing to plan for that or plan for recruitment challenges in a workers’ market.
The thing about plans and the planning process is even if things don’t go in the direction planned for, just having had those discussions and brainstorming scenarios, makes one better equipped to adjust in a variety of circumstances.
Best practice is to design systems for peak capacity, not average capacity. Too costly? Re-run those numbers factoring in lost business. Or at least have a vetted plan to bring together all the elements of the system for peak capacity, written down on paper with managers in the loop to respond immediately to an announcement to implement the plan. (This process is very similar to disaster planning.) Everyone should be able to pull the plan out of their drawer and take the actions required of their unit expeditiously.
Alas! Two things never done in Hawai’i are planning and acting with speed. So I figured Hawaiian Air capacity issues were just an Hawai’i thing. But it turns out to be all over the place.
Even American Airlines, who with IBM, invented and implemented the first online airline booking system, SABRE, has problems. That system was then acquired by many major airlines. But it isn’t working at optimal levels.
They better start hiring more people or bring them back to work with better and higher pay.
My Southwest flight (BWI/LAS) was canceled on Monday without any explanation - 10 hours before departure. I was fortunate to rebook to an earlier flight, which ended up completely full. I was able to piece together that SW (and probably most airlines) is so desperate to pad the profit margin - as part of their pandemic recovery plan - that they will do almost anything to fly ONLY full planes. Hence the cancellations. It is...
My Southwest flight (BWI/LAS) was canceled on Monday without any explanation - 10 hours before departure. I was fortunate to rebook to an earlier flight, which ended up completely full. I was able to piece together that SW (and probably most airlines) is so desperate to pad the profit margin - as part of their pandemic recovery plan - that they will do almost anything to fly ONLY full planes. Hence the cancellations. It is borderline shameful and very inconvenient for customers, but I don’t think they really care. This is the two Cs of the path moving forward, consolidate and condense flights. The cost of fuel, short staffing, and the quest to boost profit margins are contributing to this - at the expense of customer satisfaction.
Since SW has no agreements to rebook with another airline,, you're simply stuck until a SW seat is open. This is why most business travelers avoid SW.
Any chance these concurrent system outages with US based carriers are something more nefarious like outside interference?
Yes, it is nefarious; over-compensated executives cut way too many hourly employees and figured the government would bail them out for mismanagement. They under invest in IT and use IT robots in place of real people. Everything is being crapified if you look around.
Shut up. You’re clearly brainwashed. No executive on planet earth is going to keep thousands of workers when there are no flights or little to none and no economics to keep it running. Please get a degree or do something valuable with your life.
God is in control, be patient.
I agree, this is what happens when companies furlough thousands of employees. I was just on hold for three hours with Southwest waiting to reschedule a canceled flight. We are not able to fly out for two days from our original departure. Very frustrating. Isn't it the airlines job to foresee this return to travel and plan to fill the void. I am wondering what these companies are doing to incentivize people to come back...
I agree, this is what happens when companies furlough thousands of employees. I was just on hold for three hours with Southwest waiting to reschedule a canceled flight. We are not able to fly out for two days from our original departure. Very frustrating. Isn't it the airlines job to foresee this return to travel and plan to fill the void. I am wondering what these companies are doing to incentivize people to come back to work. I'd imagine that they all deserve to be payed crisis wages at this point and always provided better wages and benefits. I am experiencing this same crisis in health care. The administration across all occupations need to get their hands dirty and realize that the work force deserves more respect and compensation for the work they do everyday not just when there is a crisis.
Currently sitting at the gate now for 1.5 hours because their operations manifest doesn't match the passenger list that's aboard the plane. They had to do a manual accounting of everyone on the plane, and even after that ended up still not knowing certain people were on the plane (myself included as they called out my name twice more). If that wasn't bad enough when they finally figured it out they said they needed to...
Currently sitting at the gate now for 1.5 hours because their operations manifest doesn't match the passenger list that's aboard the plane. They had to do a manual accounting of everyone on the plane, and even after that ended up still not knowing certain people were on the plane (myself included as they called out my name twice more). If that wasn't bad enough when they finally figured it out they said they needed to add more fuel to the plane. This is the second time I've been delayed this week on Southwest.
Never understood why WN shuns seat assignments. What took you 1.5 hrs could’ve taken 30 sec. has happened to me in the past too. Just assign a damn seat and be done with it.
This morning, my brother spent $60 for a one hour Uber ride to get to BOS to have the flight cancelled on him just 1.5 hrs before the departure time. He even passed the TSA screening already!
He was aware of the 300+ cancellation yesterday and made sure that his flight was on schedule before he left his house. SW rebooked him for tomorrow but it's costing him almost $200 to go back and...
This morning, my brother spent $60 for a one hour Uber ride to get to BOS to have the flight cancelled on him just 1.5 hrs before the departure time. He even passed the TSA screening already!
He was aware of the 300+ cancellation yesterday and made sure that his flight was on schedule before he left his house. SW rebooked him for tomorrow but it's costing him almost $200 to go back and forth to the airport. SW could have saved him time and money by cancelling the flight the night before or even early morning today. Bad practice here.
That's what happens when any company furloughs thousands of it's employees.
They didn’t furlough but they did offer leaves & retirement that MANY took. They are understaffed & don’t have enough planes with all the extra flights they've added. They can’t keep up & are overextending & their employees are exhausted & walking off the job.
Seems southwest is not used to flying into major airports. Stay in the small ones that you can handle. Welcome to the big boy airports southwest.
Southwest didn’t furlough anybody.
Jason, regular employees weren't furloughed but there were major layoffs in the contractor groups, like IT etc. Over all though SWA did keep all of their employees who didn't take a package, and that's an awesome accomplishment. SWA does treat their employees great!
I’m curious why United and Alaska seem to be the only two not impacted by staffing issues?
Seems like you’ve written about Delta, American and Southwest all having major issues - would be interesting to know if United has managed the situation differently.
Cranky Flier did a post mortem on the Delta holiday cancellations and you can go look at his findings if you wish.
The bottom line is that he and no one can know how many passengers were impacted by Delta's cancellations but the sheer number of flights that Delta cancelled is a fraction of what American and Southwest have cancelled.
Delta was seat blocking during all of its cancellations and said they were...
Cranky Flier did a post mortem on the Delta holiday cancellations and you can go look at his findings if you wish.
The bottom line is that he and no one can know how many passengers were impacted by Delta's cancellations but the sheer number of flights that Delta cancelled is a fraction of what American and Southwest have cancelled.
Delta was seat blocking during all of its cancellations and said they were able to protect most of the passengers within hours and they removed seat blocking after the Easter mess in order to clear the backlog of passengers.
None of it is acceptable but the scale of disruption is vastly different between what has affected Southwest and American passengers compared to what Delta did.
DOT consumer complaints show that Delta's rate of complaints were virtually unchanged. It will take months for data from DOT complaints to come in but it is absolutely a given that AA and WN's complaints will soar.
Alaska is doing a good job compared to the rest of the industry while JetBlue - which hasn't gotten much press - is consistently posting some of the worst on-time numbers in the industry. Most airline performance data comes out so late; people need to look at flight tracking sites to see what airlines are doing and book their travel accordingly.
And for yet another day, a cold front is parked over the Chicago area and both airports are in ATC delay mode with even more delays happening which affects American, Southwest and United the most with their large Chicago operations. The forecast is for that setup to remain for at least several more days due to high pressure in the southeast.
Everyone in the airline industry is waiting for 737MAX to save the day.
What a very stereotypical tim Dunn takeaway lol
SW cancelled my nonstop flight 4 hrs before departure!
Rebooked the following day on a flight that stops elsewhere making my travel time doubled.WTF, SW???
CUSTOMER CARE SUCKS WITH A 2 1/2 HOUR WAIT TIME TO SPEAK TO REPRESENTATIVE.
So they have all their passengers by the balls.
Shouldn't be this hard for them to figure out. Stop being greedy Southwest, only put up flights you can staff and handle. STOP,...
SW cancelled my nonstop flight 4 hrs before departure!
Rebooked the following day on a flight that stops elsewhere making my travel time doubled.WTF, SW???
CUSTOMER CARE SUCKS WITH A 2 1/2 HOUR WAIT TIME TO SPEAK TO REPRESENTATIVE.
So they have all their passengers by the balls.
Shouldn't be this hard for them to figure out. Stop being greedy Southwest, only put up flights you can staff and handle. STOP, messing with our lives for your convenience - YOU ARE NOT GOD, although you think you are.
Show a little customer care and concern.
Get your SHIT TOGETHER!!!!!
We’re scheduled to fly Sat July 2nd KC to ORLANDO and return the 10th with SW. I have concerns about delays and cancellations happening. I have a fairly tight schedule to make things stack up within this 7 days. Thoughts? I might drive.
My morning flight from ABQ to Dallas Love was canceled late last night, and we were re-booked a full day and a half later. This was to be our first flight post Pandemic, and we (my wife and I) were excited to be flying, only to be deflated very quickly. We
learned the hard way that this may not be a good summer for flying anywhere. Ugghhh...
Get a Greyhound instead. Same thing.
Greyhound does not seem to be having these type of issues. And the bus is a good way to travel.
That’s a good thought! I checked it out! Greyhound seems to have plenty of problems, even operating below capacity.
Google “greyhound bus news” and observe highway collisions, a bus in flames, stranded passengers sitting on curb, and closing bus stations.
…And bus not an option in much of today’s world: can’t go over the ocean plus gobbles up valuable time, even whole days.
Maybe Zoom et al are the best answer for...
That’s a good thought! I checked it out! Greyhound seems to have plenty of problems, even operating below capacity.
Google “greyhound bus news” and observe highway collisions, a bus in flames, stranded passengers sitting on curb, and closing bus stations.
…And bus not an option in much of today’s world: can’t go over the ocean plus gobbles up valuable time, even whole days.
Maybe Zoom et al are the best answer for some situations but not for a vacation. Not for child care.
The pandemic just is not done with us, yet. We have to continue to adjust our behaviors until it is well and truly gone. Fingers crossed.
My opinion, and that’s all it is, just an opinion, we should all view travel as only undertaken for essential reasons.
After Googling Greyhound bus news and seeing a number of recent crashes, a bus fully engulfed in flames, closing Greyhound stations, and multiple old busses being turned into Freedom Fighters memorials, not sure the hound is the same as flying. :-)
Southwest was very aggressive in reducing schedules, far more than others. Now that travel picked up, they want their piece of the pie and are not staffed for the moment. Like American, their eyes are bigger than their stomach.
Southwest, like American, has looked for every opportunity to re-add capacity during the pandemic in hopes that they could reduce their unit costs. Neither has been prepared for the schedule they published. Cranky Flier did a great analysis of delays and cancellations earlier this week which shows that American and Southwest have had problems going back two months. The review is definitely worth a look. Just as higher value business travelers are starting to return...
Southwest, like American, has looked for every opportunity to re-add capacity during the pandemic in hopes that they could reduce their unit costs. Neither has been prepared for the schedule they published. Cranky Flier did a great analysis of delays and cancellations earlier this week which shows that American and Southwest have had problems going back two months. The review is definitely worth a look. Just as higher value business travelers are starting to return to the skies, it is clear with which airlines they will not book.
bUt BuT bUt SoUtHwEsT iS tHe BeSt RaN aIrLiNe durrrrr
Shut up