Southwest Airlines Cancels Hundreds Of Flights
ANNE ARUNDEL, Md. (WJZ) -- Here at BWI, the flight schedule posted online does not show any departure cancellations from today and at last check, all future Southwest flights appear to be on time.
But that was not the case for travelers WJZ spoke with trying to catch a flight into BWI today.
"I got to the airport and it was crazy," said Victoria Wentz, Southwest airlines passenger.
"Everything was great until 6 this morning when I got the message, your flight's been canceled," said Douglas Potash, Southwest airlines passenger.
Canceled flights and delays leaving Southwest airlines passengers stranded and frustrated.
"I was supposed to be home at noon today," said Potash.
FlightAware.com shows Southwest has canceled over 1,000 flights Sunday-- that's about 30 percent of the airline's scheduled flights.
"I mean it was nuts, people were really angry… as you can imagine," said Wentz.
Southwest airlines officials blaming weather challenges out of Florida at the start of the weekend, along with unexpected air traffic control issues. But the FAA says there have been no air traffic staffing shortages reported since Friday.
"There were 400 people in line in Southwest, so I tried going online, nothing's available for two days," said Potash.
Douglas Potash says his flight to BWI was canceled out of Nashville this morning and had no other choice but to book another flight through a different airline.
"I was going to uber down here. Luckily on the plane, there was a woman who also had the problem and rented a car up there and so she drove me down here," said Potash.
But there were still a few flights scheduled on time and passengers like Wentz say she's relieved she didn't experience any issues.
"Oh my gosh, I'm like so happy to be home. I was like thank God because I was supposed to be on a different flight later and it got canceled, so I was like thank goodness I made it," said Wentz.
Southwest Airlines says to be sure to check the status of your flight before heading to the airport.
And to expect customer service wait times to be longer than usual. The airline is also offering customers self-service rebooking options online.