Southwest Airlines blames technology issues, weather for weekend delays and cancellations
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) — Flight delays and cancellations plagued some Southwest Airlines passengers over the weekend and the airline says both technology and weather issues were to blame.
Lesroy Samuel was among those affected. He was supposed to go home to Florida on Sunday, but the headaches began while he was en route to the airport.
"I get a text that the flight was delayed to 1:18 to 9:45," Samuel said. "I get to the airport, go to the desk and I was told my flight was canceled."
Southwest Airlines said planned, overnight technology maintenance from Friday into Saturday delayed some early Saturday morning flights. But they said only seven flights were canceled out of more than 3,600 scheduled.
And while they said that issue was resolved by early Saturday, weather and ensuing air traffic issues in Florida wreaked havoc on the airlines later that day.
Southwest canceled around 600 flights Saturday, 400 Sunday and about a dozen Monday. Tracking service FlightAware said about one in every 13 flights across the airlines was canceled over the weekend.
Cristian Gandera, who flew to Dallas this weekend to take his two sons to WrestleMania, said he plans his travel proactively, knowing delays or cancellations are always a possibility.
"We're not going to fly the same day, because you never know what's going to happen," Gandera said. "So you have to fly one day ahead and one day after. That way, you'll have a little room in there."
Southwest has faced technology challenges before, including last summer when two separate issues grounded flights for two days.
As for Samuel, while the cancellations were frustrating, he said there was a silver lining.
"It gave me an extra day with my son," he said. "That's the bright side."