After the Christmas holiday, Southwest Airlines grounded dozens of flights nationally, leaving passengers stuck at Midway airport.
Canceled Flights
By 7 p.m., Southwest had canceled 70% of its Monday flights. According to ABC News, CT and have already canceled 60% of its flights for Tuesday. Due to the overwhelming number of calls, phone lines have failed, and the airline’s website and app are only sometimes functional.
In comparison, only 12 flights were canceled on Monday and nine on Tuesday by American Airlines, which also has a hub in Chicago.
The entire backlog is anticipated to take a week or longer to clear.
Noelle Cormack, a passenger whose flight was canceled, stated, “I would just say I’m furious, like how could you not see this happening? or how could they have planned better for it.”
Since their Southwest trip to Florida was canceled and the next available departure is three days away, the Cormacks of Naperville will not be going on their planned cruise.
Kathie Cormack said, “We now have, are going to have to pay for our hotel since you have to cancel it as of yesterday.
There was a five and a half hour wait in queue at Midway for Southwest rebooking.
At Midway’s baggage claim, where hundreds of bags make a sea of luggage as far as the eye can see, luggage kept piling up. But few people are available to get them. Since days, bags have been flying without their owners.
Travelers’ Experiences
John Ruh, whose flight was canceled, said, “Guess I should have just had a backpack because they’re telling me the flight got canceled because they said there’s not enough help, not enough stewardesses to manage a full flight. Now we’re trying to recover our luggage, but they’re saying our luggage is going to the destination, to Raleigh Durham without us.
Carolyn Irving, who was looking for her suitcases, said, “I left New Orleans two and a half days ago. Cancelled. Delayed. Cancelled. Delayed. Cancelled. Hopefully I can find my luggage because it has gifts and medication, but when you phone, no one answers.
Southwest flies point to point more regularly than other carriers. As a result of the winter storm that hit Denver and their Midway base last week, their planes are currently dispersed in all the wrong locations.
Joe Schwieterman, a professor of aviation at DePaul University and aviation authority, stated that Southwest’s issue is basically that the system is out of alignment, the snowfall is moving, and they haven’t been able to reset the operation.
“USDOT is concerned by Southwest’s unacceptable rate of cancellations and delays & reports of lack of prompt customer service,” the U.S. Department of Transportation tweeted. “The Department will examine whether cancellations were controllable and if Southwest is complying with its customer service plan.”
