Air travelers across the U.S. hoping for clear skies Tuesday after an unfortunate week of weather-related cancellations and delays will need to stretch their patience for several more days — especially if they are flying on Southwest. As of 2:45 p.m., there were just over 3,000 flights canceled Tuesday inside, to, or from the U.S. ET, according to FlightAware, a flight-tracking site. Of those canceled flights, nearly 2,600 were from Southwest, nearly two-thirds of all Southwest flights on Tuesday. Alaska Airlines, in comparison, had just 9% of its flights canceled, while United had just 2%.
The airports hardest hit by cancellations on Tuesday were Denver International, followed by Chicago Midway International, Baltimore/Washington International, Harry Reid International Las Vegas, Dallas Love Field, and Nashville International. As of 2:45 p.m., there were over 5,200 delays. Tuesdays cancellations followed an all-day chaotic travel after Christmas, when 3,989 flights were canceled Monday -- 2,909 of them were Southwest flights.
And Southwests Christmas struggles come amid a year of airline woes. Nearly one-quarter of U.S. flights were delayed over the summer, with thousands cancelled, reported CNN.
Southwest warned this week that the cancellations and delays are expected to continue for a few days, and representatives said the Dallas-based airline is planning on cutting its flight schedules in an effort to return operations on track. Southwest CEO Bob Jordan told The Wall Street Journal the company plans to run a little over one-third of its scheduled flights over the next few days in order to allow crews the opportunity to be on their feet. The reduced schedule may get extended, Jordan added, according to WSJ.com.
What can stranded passengers do?
On Tuesday morning, long lines were already building up at the Southwest ticket counter at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Tuesday morning as travellers waited to try to rebook flights or make connections.
And at Chicago’s Midway International, huge buildups of unclaimed bags piled up as passengers struggled to reclaim their luggage. There were similar scenes at other airports, including Harry Reid in Las Vegas and William P. Hobby Airport in Houston.
The airline also says, “those whose flights have been canceled may request a full refund or receive a flight credit, which does not expire.”
If you’ve been left in the lurch and your efforts to reach a customer service agent are going nowhere, the founder of Scott’s Cheap Flights suggests trying an international number.
“The main hotline for US airlines will be clogged with other passengers getting rebooked. To get through to an agent quickly, call any one of the airline’s dozens of international offices,” Scott Keyes said.
“Agents can handle your reservation just like US-based ones can, but there’s virtually no wait to get through.”
Click here to get international numbers that Southwest has previously posted.
A spokesperson for Southwest Airlines said the recent winter storm is to blame for the cascade of thousands of flight cancellations Monday and advanced cancellations Tuesday.
“As the storm continued to sweep across the country, it continued to impact many of our larger stations, and so the cancellations just compiled one after another to 100 to 150 to 1,000,” Jay McVay said in a press conference at Houston’s William P. Hobby Airport on Monday night.
“With those cancellations and as a result, we end up with flight crews and airplanes that are out of place and not in the cities that they need to be in to continue to run our operations.”
McVay said that the company’s first priority right now is safety. “We want to make sure that we operate these flights safely and that we have the flight crews that have legal and sufficient time to operate these flights,” he stated.
-CNN
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