Southwest Passengers Left Out in the Cold as Airline Cancels Majority of its Flights

DALLAS - The world's largest low-cost carrier, Southwest Airlines (WN), is attempting to "reset" its network after cancelling most of its flights on December 26, stranding hundreds of thousands of passengers and crew members across the country.

Two thousand nine hundred seven flights were cancelled on Monday, around 71% of its entire operations. This followed days of extreme winter weather that crippled North America's transportation system. It cancelled 48% of its services on Sunday and has already cut over 2,400 flights, around 60%, for today.

"Heartfelt Apologies"

The airline has offered its "heartfelt apologies" for the chaos, saying that "continuing challenges are impacting our Customers and Employees in a significant way that is unacceptable."

In an official statement on the carrier's website, WN said, "We were fully staffed and prepared for the approaching holiday weekend when the severe weather swept across the continent, where Southwest is the largest carrier in 23 of the top 25 travel markets in the US.

"These operational conditions forced daily changes to our flight schedule at a volume and magnitude that still has the tools our teams use to recover the airline operating at capacity."

WN has also said that the disruption will continue "for the next several days" as the airline attempts to recover its operation by slashing its flying schedule by a third. It is also working to rebook as many passengers as possible. Those affected by flight cancellations can request a refund or receive a credit.

"On the other side of this, we'll work to make things right for those we've let down, including our Employees," it added.

Government Concern

Other US carriers have been affected by the winter weather conditions but none as severely as WN. According to FlightAware, on December 26, Alaska Airlines (AS) cancelled 133 flights (17% of its operation), Delta (DL) cancelled 268 flights (9%) and United Airlines (UA) canned 137 flights (5%).

The move has prompted the US Transportation Department (USDOT) to get involved. In a statement, the agency said, "US DOT is concerned by Southwest's unacceptable rate of cancellations and delays, as well as the failure to properly support customers experiencing a cancellation or delay. As more information becomes available, the department will closely examine whether cancellations were controllable and whether Southwest is complying with its customer service plan, as well as all other pertinent DOT rules."

Featured Image: Southwest was forced to cancel 2,907 flights on Monday. Photo: Daniel Gorun/Airways.