TEXAS — In the thick of the holiday season, airline travel is proving difficult for some. Southwest Airlines has reported canceling up to 66% of its schedule, which amounts to 2,695 flights, as of 3:30 p.m. CT Monday, according to FlightAware.
Southwest Airlines released a statement Monday night explaining the mass delays and cancellations, citing the winter weather as the culprit.
“With consecutive days of extreme winter weather across our network behind us, continuing challenges are impacting our customers and employees in a significant way that is unacceptable,” Southwest said in a news release Monday. “We are working with safety at the forefront to urgently address wide-scale disruption by re-balancing the airline and repositioning crews and our fleet, ultimately to best serve all who plan to travel with us. And our heartfelt apologies for this are just beginning.”
More than 5,400 flights across various airlines have been canceled Monday, according to FlightAware. The holiday weekend brought freezing temperatures and paralyzing winter weather, which caused delays across many airlines.
Southwest counters across the country are experiencing delays and long lines, including Los Angeles International Airport and the Dallas-Love Field Airport, along with airports in Florida.
People have been waiting in line for hours at LAX to get rebooked on flights after mass cancellations. Southwest has had close to 60% of flights cancelled across the country. @SpecNews1SoCal this is apparently because of flight cancellations and the aftermath of the storms. pic.twitter.com/2r8vPxWAUL
— Chace Beech (@Chacebeech) December 26, 2022
The Dallas-based airline said the delays and cancellations are due to “disruptions across our network as a result of (the winter storm’s) lingering effects on the totality of our operation,” according to CNN.
Southwest Airlines CEO said Monday that travelers should expect more delays going into Wednesday and Thursday with just over a third of its flights operating, according to the Wall Street Journal.
USDOT is concerned by Southwest’s unacceptable rate of cancellations and delays & reports of lack of prompt customer service. The Department will examine whether cancellations were controllable and if Southwest is complying with its customer service plan.
— TransportationGov (@USDOT) December 27, 2022
