The airline said the cancellations were made precautionarily to “communicate as soon as possible with the affected customers and crews”. He also said there had been no further cancellations since noon on Sunday. “We have planned and are already in a much better business environment today, Sunday, compared to the weather and air traffic conditions we, our customers and the passengers of other carriers experienced on Saturday afternoon and evening,” she said. Southwest in one statement. Cancellations and delays account for about a third of Southwest’s 3,600 flights scheduled for Sunday. Other airlines also had problems stemming from widespread storms in Florida on Saturday, with cancellations across the U.S. totaling more than 1,500 on Sunday. Fort Worth-based American Airlines, JetBlue and Spirit canceled at least 200 flights each. Passengers protesting on social media say the flights may not be available for days. Southwest’s problems began with “intermittent technology issues after routine overnight maintenance” on Friday night when the company said it had been resolved. There were also thunderstorms in Florida that delayed some flights early Saturday. But the problems worsened throughout Saturday, similar to last year ‘s other business crashes that sometimes left the carrier shuffling for days as the company struggled to find pilots, flight attendants and aircraft where it was supposed to be and fly the next day. day. “It’s a nightmare out there on an increasingly frequent basis,” said Casey Murray, head of the Southwest Airlines pilots’ union, in a text message. “Yesterday, it started with an IT failure and schedules are exacerbating problems where recovery takes 4-5 days.” By the end of Saturday, Southwest had canceled 520 flights, about one-seventh of all flights and almost half of the company’s flights. Most of those flights were to Florida, with nearly 500 flights from Orlando, Miami, Tampa and Fort Lauderdale canceled on Saturday to all carriers. Florida and New York airports were particularly troubled for travelers on Sunday. American Airlines canceled 363 flights on Saturday and delayed another 620. On Sunday, the airline suspended 251 flights from 2:30 p.m. and delayed another 233. “Today, we are focusing on the recovery from yesterday in Florida and as a result [Air Traffic Control] “Initiatives that have reduced routes and we could see some more weather and ATC initiatives today,” said Yamleque Murillo, a spokeswoman for American Airlines. Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines blocked 237 flights on Saturday, about 8% of its schedule, and one-fifth of flights were delayed, an unusual weekend for an airline that regularly outperforms others in reliability. Budget airline Spirit had to cancel about a quarter of its flights, 222 in total, on Saturday and 237 on Sunday. JetBlue had 161 cancellations on Saturday, but bigger problems on Sunday with 352 flights canceled. In the past, Southwest has shifted some responsibilities across its networks from point to point because planes and crews may be out of position because its aircraft often completes five or six voyages before returning to a large base. This contrasts with an airline like American, which tends to fly repeatedly between smaller cities and its hubs in Dallas, Charlotte or Chicago. Passengers also complained on social media about having trouble reaching customer service by phone for rescheduling flights. Some even noted that technology channels seemed to be flooded with issues. Becky Patterson of Birmingham, Ala, was stranded at Orlando airport for more than eight hours on Saturday with her 10-year-old daughter, a delay that included several calls to Southwest Airlines after pilots loaded due to a long wait on the runway. He finally gave up. “We got one of the last rental cars and drove home for 9 hours arriving early this morning,” Patterson said. “The last thing I want is a coupon because we will not fly again with this airline.” The flight was delayed 6 times due to weather and then canceled because there was no crew. @SouthwestAir did not send notifications or even inform the gateway agents, did not offer coupons or hotel assistance and first tried to book me again on Tuesday. I know things are happening, but it was treated badly. – Lindsay (@ NOLAlexis_9) April 3, 2022 Some Southwest passengers were notified that they would not be able to book flights again until Monday or later. He went through all this yesterday, the process was brutal, but he was happy and found a believer in Fort Wayne. It took us 12 hours to get home with all the delays, we have to get our car from Indy, but we feel very lucky. Good luck to you!!! – Karen Parker (@Ms_Paaarker) April 3, 2022
