ATlanTA – Federal surveillance is on the rise. The CEO is apologizing to the customer.
And as the crisis at Southwest Airlines, one of the worst experienced by industry observers in decades, turned another day on Wednesday, angry customers remained trapped. stuck, separated from their families, and some were still carrying the Christmas presents they had planned to deliver days in advance.
No relief on Wednesday: Southwest canceled more than 2,300 flights, or 58% of scheduled flights for the day, according to FlightAwarea flight tracking service.
And the company has said it could take a few days until the bottlenecks are untangled and normal service will resume; More than 2,300 flights on Thursday, or 58% of the airline’s total scheduled flights, were canceled on Wednesday morning.
“I’m not mad at them,” Tearsa Aisani Parham said as she stood in a winding line at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport’s North Terminal Tuesday afternoon, hoping to find a Southwest employee willing to listen. listen. “I went crazy with the way they did it.”
Southwest’s operating configuration, unlike most major carriers, has come under scrutiny after a winter storm last week disrupted travel plans across the United States. Southwest was unable to get planes back into service after the storm, while thousands of customers were stranded and struggled to rebook.
Southwest has canceled the majority of its flights over the past three days and is poised to do so again on Thursday. In total, nearly 11,000 Southwest flights have been canceled since last Thursday, according to FlightAware.
Pete Buttigieg, the transportation secretary, said on “Good Morning America” on Wednesday that “crisis” is “the only word I can think of to describe what’s happening at Southwest.” Airlines.”
“We’re past the point where they can say it’s a weather problem,” Mr Buttigieg said. He added: “This shows that this is a systemic failure and they need to make sure that these stranded passengers get where they need to go and that they are adequately compensated.”
Many passengers said Wednesday that they have yet to receive refunds for canceled flights. And many people who don’t have suitcases somehow reach their destination without them or turn into a pile of luggage at the airport baggage claim area.
Hailey Zeiler, an account executive at ABC News, was visiting family in Florida over the holiday season but her flight from Orlando back home to Washington was canceled on Christmas Eve after she had waited at the station for more than six hours while delays piled up.
Ms Zeiler, 23, ended up booking an unusually expensive flight with another airline to return home on Tuesday, but she still had no luggage, including a ring left by her stepfather. as well as a number of other important assets.
“That ring is priceless,” she said. Also in the bag: her work computer, Christmas presents, and all her toiletries.
“It’s my livelihood,” she said, adding that she still feels lucky to be able to go home. She said that watching videos of luggage stacked around carousels made her worried that someone might steal her luggage.
“You start to worry,” she said. “You hope people have a good heart.”
At Chicago Midway International Airport, the terminal was packed with passengers and their loved ones trying to retrieve their bags, many of which were sorted by destination on the airport floor.
Craig Byrd, who lives in Chicago, says that while his eldest daughter’s Southwest flight into town for Christmas was cancelled, her luggage tracker indicated that the bags her still arrives at the airport without her. He waited four hours on Wednesday, but Southwest couldn’t find the luggage.
Mr Byrd, 60, said: ‘I’ll wait another hour and then come back tomorrow. “We have a lot of plans for the weekend. I am very disappointed with Southwest; Their credibility is in doubt.”
Senator Maria Cantwell, chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, said in a statement Tuesday that the committee will investigate the cause of Southwest Airlines’ turmoil and that “problems at Southwest Airlines The past few days aren’t just about the weather.”
“Many airlines are not communicating adequately with consumers during flight cancellations,” she said. “Consumers deserve strong protection, including an updated consumer refund rule.”
Southwest CEO, Bob Jordanapologized to customers in a video Tuesday night, saying the “huge puzzle” about HR could take days to solve.
“Our plan for the next few days is to reduce our flight schedule and reposition our people and aircraft,” said Mr. Jordan. “We’re making progress and we’re optimistic we’ll be back on track before next week.”
The problems stem in part from the airline’s unique “point-to-point” model, in which planes tend to fly from one destination to another without returning to one or two major hubs. Most airlines follow the “wheel and spokes” model, in which planes often return to the hub airport after flying out to other cities.
When bad weather hits, hub and spokes airlines may close specific routes and have plans to restart operations when the sky is clear. But bad weather can disrupt many point-to-point flights and routes, making it impossible for Southwest employees to resume normal operations.
Last week’s massive snowstorm exposed other vulnerabilities in Southwest’s network. Inadequate computer systems make it difficult to move teams to where they are needed most. Additionally, Southwest lacks agreements with other airlines and is unable to rebook passengers on competitor flights, forcing many to wait days for Southwest to clear its backlog.
The setbacks have left passengers like Ms Parham scrambling to come up with alternative and sometimes unenforceable plans.
Mrs. Parham plans to spend the days after Christmas at Disney World with her family — a birthday present for the couple one of her sons, and a Christmas present for her grandson. She flew from Atlanta to Baltimore to see her eldest son, who doesn’t like to fly alone, then returned to Atlanta before her Christmas Day flight to Tampa.
Her youngest son and family went to Disney. Even her bags made it to Florida.
But her Sunday flight was canceled and she spent Christmas Day at the airport. After waiting until 4:30 a.m. the next day, she said she was told she would be put on a 6 a.m. flight. That flight was overbooked and Ms Parham became a backup passenger. The flight took off with her bags, but without her. The next flight was delayed, then cancelled. Then another delay, and another cancellation. And the flight after that? Cancellation is fine.
“I need make-up,” said Miss Parham, smiling.
Waiting in line at the Atlanta airport on Tuesday, Anthony Malloy, 63, of Queens, NY, said he wouldn’t be able to board a flight before Friday. He said he had no choice but to head to the airport after his Tuesday flight home was cancelled, because Southwest’s customer service line was disconnected and changes were made. Exchange is not available online.
He was eager to return home, as his twin brother was flying in from California to meet him in New York. Mr. Malloy came to Atlanta a week ago to visit a friend.
“To think this is how it has to end is really debilitating,” he said.
It was not Mr Malloy’s first disappointing trip with Southwest, as he was among thousands of passengers affected by the virus. Flight delays and cancellations in June 2021. At the time, he spent $98 on an Uber from a remote airport to get home to Queens and didn’t receive his luggage for three days. As an apology, the airline offered him a coupon for a plane ticket he used for his trip to Atlanta.
“Exchanging offers may not be a good idea,” he says.
Robert Chiarito Contribution report from Chicago.
