ATLANTA – Federal control is growing. The CEO apologizes to customers.
And as the collapse at Southwest Airlines, one of the worst industry observers have seen in decades, turned into another day on Wednesday, irate customers were left stranded, separated from their families and some still carrying Christmas gifts they received days ago. wanted to deliver.
There was no relief by Wednesday: Southwest had canceled more than 2,500 flights, or 62 percent of its scheduled flights for the day, according to FlightAware, a flight tracking service. The company has said it could take days to untie the knots and resume normal service.
“I’m not mad at them,” said Tearsa Aisani Parham, who stood in a serpentine line Tuesday afternoon at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport’s North Terminal, hoping to find a Southwest employee willing to listen. “I’m angry with the way they did it.”
Southwest’s operational configuration, which differs from most other major airlines, has come under scrutiny after a winter storm disrupted travel plans across the United States last week. Southwest has managed like no other to get its planes back in the air after the storm, while thousands of customers are stranded and struggling to rebook.
On Friday, about 1,300 Southwest flights — about 34 percent of scheduled flights that day — were canceled. Other airlines in the United States also struggled Friday, with about 22.5 percent of all non-Southwest flights canceled, according to FlightAware.
But as other airlines got back on their feet — 13.3 percent of non-Southwest flights were canceled on Saturday, 9.7 percent on Sunday and 5.7 percent on Monday — Southwest’s problems worsened.
Southwest canceled 39 percent of its flights on Saturday. The number grew to 46 percent on Sunday, 74 percent on Monday and 64 percent on Tuesday.
A total of nearly 11,000 Southwest flights have been canceled since Thursday, according to FlightAware.
Pete Buttigieg, the transportation secretary, said in an interview on “NBC Nightly News” Tuesday that it was “an unacceptable situation” that would require a closer look at Southwest’s scheduling system.
“We all understand that you can’t control the weather,” he said, adding that “this has clearly crossed the line from what is an uncontrollable weather situation to something that is the direct responsibility of the airline.”
Senator Maria Cantwell, chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, said in a statement Tuesday that the committee would investigate the causes of the meltdown and that “the problems at Southwest Airlines in recent days extend beyond the weather.”
“Many airlines fail to adequately communicate with consumers during flight cancellations,” she said. “Consumers deserve strong protections, including an updated consumer refund rule.”
Southwest CEO Bob Jordan apologized to customers in a video Tuesday evening, saying that solving the “giant puzzle” of the workforce could take days.
“Our plan for the next few days is to fly on a shortened schedule and move our people and aircraft,” Jordan said. “We are making progress and we are optimistic that we will be back on track for next week.”
The problems stem from the airline’s unique “point-to-point” model, where aircraft tend to fly from destination to destination without returning to one or two main hubs. Most airlines follow a hub and spoke model, where planes typically return to a hub airport after flying to other cities.
When bad weather hits, hub-and-spoke airlines can close specific routes and have plans to resume operations when the skies clear. But inclement weather can scramble multiple flights and routes in a point-to-point model, throwing Southwest personnel out of position to resume normal operations.
It leaves passengers like Mrs. Parham struggling to make alternative plans, and sometimes unable to do so.
Mrs. Parham planned to spend the days after Christmas with her family at Disney World – a birthday present for one of her sons and his wife, and a Christmas present for her grandson. She flew from Atlanta to Baltimore to meet her oldest son, who doesn’t like to fly alone, then returned to Atlanta in anticipation of a Christmas Day flight to Tampa.
Her youngest son and his family made it 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 4:30am the next day, she said she was told she would be placed on a 6am flight. That flight was overbooked and Mrs. Parham became a standby passenger. The flight took off with her bags, but without her. The next flight was delayed and then cancelled. Then another delay and another cancellation. And the flight afterwards? Also cancelled.
“I need my make-up,” said Mrs. Parham, laughing.
Anthony Malloy, 63, of Queens, NY, waited in line at the Atlanta airport on Tuesday and said he wouldn’t be able to get on a flight until Friday. He said he had no choice but to get to the airport after his flight home was canceled on Tuesday because Southwest’s customer service was broken and changes weren’t available online.
He was eager to return home as his twin brother flew from California to meet him in New York. Mr. Malloy arrived in Atlanta a week ago to visit a friend.
“To think this is the way it has to end is really debilitating,” he said.
It was not Mr Malloy’s first disappointing trip with Southwest as he was one of thousands of passengers affected by 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 he didn’t. not receive his luggage for three days. As an apology, the airline gave him a flight voucher, which he used for his trip to Atlanta.
“Exchanging the voucher might not have been such a good idea,” he said.
Tanya Sichynsky reported from Atlanta and Daniel Victor from London.
