Southwest Airlines cancels most of its flights - and it's not just bad weather

Winter storms had a major impact on the air transport industry this week, but the Southwest has additional problems.


Do not let the name be wrong: Southwest Airlines is not limited to flights in the southwest . According to Nerdwallet, the airline actually steals 100 domestic destinations In 42 states. Thanks to this scope and at relatively low prices - the Southwest is a popular choice for American travelers. However, those who were reserved in the southwest flights during the holiday weekend or who have scheduled flights this week are faced with a brutal alarm clock. As for most other airlines, the Southwest has been forced to adjust its schedule in the middle of freezing temperatures and a winter storm, which led to mass delays and cancellations. But while the industry as a whole seems to bounce back, the Southwest still wads-and the problems of the airline go beyond weather misfortunes. Read more to find out why Southwest cancels most of its flights this week.

Read this then: Southwest finally changes the way it takes flights .

Southwest cancels more flights than any other airline.

man looking at southwest airplanes
Elliott Cowand Jr / Shutterstock

According to CNN Business, the Holiday havocs The assignment of the air transport industry slowed down on Monday, December 26, after a weekend of cancellations and delays. But the southwest continued to cancel the flights: by Wall Street's journal And the data from Flightaware, between Thursday, December 22 and yesterday, on December 26, the South West canceled roughly 8,000 flights .

"We had a difficult day today," said Southwest CEO Bob Jordan said the Outlet on Monday in an interview on Monday. "In all likelihood, we will have another difficult day tomorrow when we make ourselves. It is the biggest event I have ever seen."

Today, things only get worse. At 9 a.m., the standard time of the East (East), the airline represented 2,522 of the 2,892 American flights canceled in all airlines, which represents just over 87%. Spirit has the second largest number of cancellations, but at only 83 flights canceled in total, it is a small fraction of the aircraft from the Southwest.

The figures do not improve either. CNN Business reports that Southwest already represents 99% of flight cancellations tomorrow. AE0FCC31AE342FD3A1346EBB1F342FCB

The airline only operates a third of its normal schedule.

woman looking at canceled flight schedule
Ekaterina Pokrovsky / Shutterstock

Southwest has already canceled around 62% of its Tuesday flights, and a spokesperson for the airline confirmed Wall Street's journal That this "reduced calendar" will continue until Thursday until the carrier can get back on the right track. To do this, Southwest will operate about a third of the flights it normally.

The airline had a series of bad luck that contributed to the cancellations, while the winter storm struck Chicago and Denver - two of its primary centers , Cnn travel reported.

"While the storm continued to sweep across the country, it continued to have an impact on many of our largest stations and the cancellations therefore compiled one after the other at 100 to 150 to 1,000", " Jay Mcvay said a southwest spokesperson at a press conference at William P. Hobby in Houston on December 26. They must be there to continue managing our operations. ""

But Kathleen Bangs , a spokesperson for Flightaware, told CNN Business that Southwest's problems go beyond bad weather, citing the tight recovery times of the airline for flights, which "get bogged down", she said. Captain Murray Casey , president of the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, said that the "obsolete and obsolete processes" systems are also to be blamed.

Jordan addressed Murray's statements in a message to employees, conceding that Southwest suffers due to a "lack of tools" and that they must be able to respond and "produce solutions faster". However, Jordan said the airline "is committed and investing in" the improvement and modernization of its systems, CNN Business reported.

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The weather has caused problems, but there are more important problems at stake.

stranded passenger trying to call customer service
SB Arts Media / Shutterstock

To worsen things, these obsolete systems affect travelers' ability to get in touch with the airline. In a tweet on December 26, Southwest said he was under a "high and social call survey volumes ", including a link to verify the status of theft and other options. Although the airline told CNN Travel that it was" entirely personal to answer calls, "failed travelers and those who were looking to recover The luggage recorded on Monday reported that they could not go to Southwest customer service line.

Employees could not go to the airline either, Lyn Montgomery , President of the Local 556 section of TWU, the union which represents the Southwest on -board agents, told CNN Business.

"The telephone system that the company uses simply does not work," said Montgomery. "They are simply not inhabited with enough labor to give changes to planning to on-board agents, and this has created a training effect that creates chaos throughout the country."

The problems are so serious that the United States Ministry of Transport (DOT) Survey on cancellations. "Usdot is concerned about the southwest unacceptable rate According to the cancellations and delays and reports of the lack of rapid customer service ", the agency tweeted on December 26." The ministry will examine whether the cancellations were controllable and if the South West is in accordance with its customer service plan. ""

The airline says it will do things right.

Southwest Airlines at the T. F. Green Airport in Warwick Rhode Island
istock

Despite the current chaos, the airline says it is trying to do the good of its loyal customers. During the press conference on December 26 in Houston, Mcvay stressed the importance of security and customer care, CNN Travel reported.

"We will do everything we need to do to put the challenges we have had at the moment," said Mcvay, adding that the carrier would work to obtain stays at the hotel or other modes of transport for travelers. Those who took matters into their own hands and made alternative plans have also been encouraged to keep their receipts.

"If you're already gone, take care of yourself, do what you need to do for your family, keep your receipts," said Mcvay. "We will make sure they are taken care of, this is not a question."


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