Stranger offers Colorado couple ride home from Minnesota amid Southwest flight fiasco
MINNEAPOLIS — The website Flight Aware shows Southwest Airlines canceled another 25,000 flights on Wednesday, and up to 15,000 flights never took off since the meltdown began a week ago.
The travel troubles are forcing people to either drive to their destinations or wait it out. And in one case, it led to an unexpected friendship.
MORE: Minnesotans determined to get to their destinations drive cross-country after flight cancelations
"Like everybody, we were trying to get flights on any airline that could get us out of Minnesota," said Annie Brunner, who came for Christmas with her wife, Megan.
They ended up getting stranded in Minnesota for two days as their Southwest flights to Denver kept getting canceled. On Dec. 26, they decided to drive back home, but everyone else seemed to have the same idea, and it was a long wait for a rental car at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
"I actually walked up to the attendant and I said, 'Is there anybody going to Denver who's been like really good with you to work with, like they've been pretty nice?' And she pointed to like one ticket person. She's like, 'You need to call for Dani,'" said Brunner. "I walked around going, I was like, 'Where's Dani going to Colorado?' and she jumped right up, and she said, 'If you guys want to join me going to Denver, I'd be happy to take you guys.'"
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A complete stranger drove the couple back to Denver.
"I think people are hesitant in this day and age to kind of lean on a stranger," said Brunner. "In our case, it couldn't have worked out any better."
They drove 14 hours, becoming fast friends along the way.
"We have a whole lifetime of stories, so we kind of kept each other busy," said Brunner.
Andrea Yoch, the founder of the Minnesota Aurora women's soccer team, is still stranded in Nashville after traveling there to visit close family friends.
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"Every flight leaving Nashville today was sold out, like every level, first class, everything else," said Yoch.
Yoch switched from Southwest to Delta and secured a late and expensive flight for Wednesday with a connection in between.
"I was trying to save some money by flying Southwest, but it does make me question, obviously, it didn't end up saving me money," said Yoch.
