Southwest cancels more flights at Miami, Fort Lauderdale airports
MIAMI - Cancelations and long lines are causing flight frustrations for travelers at South Florida's airports.
As of 11 a.m., 29 flights had been canceled and 77 delayed at Miami International Airport, according to FlightAware. At Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International, 65 flights were delayed and 83 flights were canceled.
At Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International, Jacinda Cason said her sister is stranded in Denver because of the problems Southwest Airlines is experiencing
"We just chanced it and got to the airport about 4-5 hours ahead of time. And we were able to fly out. But my sister tried to fly out behind us and she is still stuck, and that was Christmas Day," she said.
Some Southwest passengers at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International felt they were lucky as their flights were scheduled to take off on time. Several, like Lynne Molina, still had concerns.
"I'm going to make it from Peru and then I'm not sure. So yeah worried, worried," she said.
When asked if she would fly with Southwest again, she replied, "I'm not sure about that because I have been flying with Southwest for a while, I make about three to four trips a year. So, I'll have to see how this pans out."
Most Southwest travelers who had their flights canceled are being told they won't be able to rebook until New Year's Eve, at the earliest. The airline said it will accept reimbursement requests from passengers impacted by the carrier's mass cancellations this week.
Southwest scrubbed more than 2,300 flights nationwide set for Thursday as it tries to restore order to its mangled schedule. That's a huge percentage of all scrapped U.S. flights for the day as noted by FlightAware, and 58% of Southwest's Thursday schedule.
Southwest has canceled more than 15,000 flights over the past week, according to data posted by FlightAware.
The air carrier has blamed the massive winter storm last week for putting its crews out of position and is now running a reduced flight schedule in hopes of getting back on track by the new year.
The company issued another apology Wednesday, but it could still take days before the situation is back to normal.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who has criticized airlines for previous disruptions, said his agency would examine the causes of Southwest's widespread cancellations and whether the airline was meeting its legal obligations to stranded customers.
"While we all understand that you can't control the weather, this has clearly crossed the line from what is an uncontrollable weather situation to something that is the airline's direct responsibility," Buttigieg told "NBC Nightly News." He said Southwest should at least pay cash refunds for canceled flights and cover stranded passengers' hotel and meal costs.
In Congress, the Senate Commerce Committee also promised an investigation. Two Senate Democrats called on Southwest to provide "significant" compensation for stranded travelers, saying that the airline has the money because it plans to pay $428 million in dividends next month.
Several major airlines -- including American, Delta, and United said they're capping fares in select cities to help stranded customers get home.
