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Southwest Airlines Cancels Most Flights, Lack Of Staffing Causes Chaos Across America

Southwest Airlines Cancels Most Flights, Lack Of Staffing Causes Chaos Across America

Southwest airlines

Southwest Airlines ticket holders Kamilah Bradley, husband Cameron Bradley and 8-month-old daughter Kehlani, talk with a flight agent about rebooking their flight to Atlanta after a cancellation at Laguardia Airport, Dec. 23, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

The misery caused by Southwest Airlines’ “cancellation avalanche” of 2,800-plus flights over the Christmas holidays and more than 8,000 flights since Thursday has raised questions about the company’s employee operations and attracted the attention of the federal government.

Several airlines saw planes freeze and many airports ran out of space for de-icing as an Arctic blast brought the coldest Christmas in nearly 40 years to millions of Americans. But Southwest Airlines seemed to be hit the hardest, with travelers complaining about long lines to rebook flights, retrieve baggage, and unanswered phone calls to customer service.

Southwest CEO Bob Jordan called the cancellations the “largest scale event that I’ve ever seen,” and offered his “heartfelt apologies” in the wake of the extreme winter weather. “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,” the airline said.

Southwest spokesperson Chris Perry told NPR the airline’s struggle to accommodate the holiday rush included problems “connecting flight crews to their schedules.” That made it difficult for employees to access crew scheduling services and get reassignments.

More Southwest Airlines flights are being canceled as the New Years holidays approach and the U.S. Department of Transportation said in a statement the cancellations are “unacceptable.”

“The Department will examine whether cancellations were controllable and if Southwest is complying with its customer service plan,” the DOT tweeted late Monday.

Southwest has already canceled 60 percent or more than 2,400 of its planned flights for Tuesday, Dec. 27, Reuters reported. The airline canceled 2,886 flights — 70 percent of scheduled flights — Monday and 48 percent on Sunday, according to flight tracking website FlightAware.

By comparison, Delta Airlines had the second-most cancellations by a U.S. airline with 265 flights called off. Southwest and Delta are two of the largest U.S. airlines for the number of passengers served. However, Delta’s footprint is nearly triple the size of Southwest’s.

How did it all go so wrong for Southwest? The airline began a major expansion to new cities during the pandemic, leaving it vulnerable to disruptions, Seeking Alpha reported. Southwest planes zig-zag across the country rather than flying around central hubs, making it harder to reserve pilots and flight crews when its systems can’t keep up with scheduling changes. The airline even increased staff above 2019 levels.

Social media users voiced their frustration and sympathy for those stuck in the chaos.

Journalist Jemele Hill tweeted about Southwest’s long-running “Wanna Get Away” program, which offers travelers savings on travel costs.

“Southwest this is so UGLY,” tweeted James Scott with a screenshot of what appeared to be a Dec. 21 memo from Southwest declaring a state of operational emergency. During the state of emergency, telemedicine or telehealth doctors’ notes would not be accepted to excuse an absence of illness. The memo was directed at employee ramp agents — those who marshal aircraft, load baggage and service aircraft.

“USDOT is concerned by Southwest Airlines’ disproportionate and unacceptable rate of cancellations and delays as well as the failure to properly support customers experiencing a cancellation or delay,” the department said.

Photo: Southwest Airlines ticket holders Kamilah Bradley, husband Cameron Bradley and 8-month-old daughter Kehlani, talk with a flight agent about rebooking their flight to Atlanta after a cancellation at Laguardia Airport, Dec. 23, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)