Mass Flight Cancellations By Southwest Airlines Could Slip Into Fifth Day Of Frustrations
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Mass flight cancellations by Southwest Airlines will likely enter a fifth day. The multi-day meltdown has caused a mess for thousands of people across the country.
Early Tuesday morning at Pittsburgh International Airport, flights were running on time, except for one departing flight to Las Vegas being delayed by about an hour.
Later in the morning, a flight to Fort Lauderdale was delayed by approximately 15 minutes.
Some arriving flights were minimally delayed.
While things were running smoothly Tuesday morning, it has been a nightmare for travelers over the past few days, with more than 2,000 flights being delayed or cancelled.
Southwest Airlines has blamed the issues on traffic control and weather-related issues.
The company says they are flying fewer flights than they did pre-pandemic and that's causing problems with getting passengers re-scheduled.
Read more:
For local travelers, some have gotten stuck and are looking for ways to get home.
"Between the couch bed and the regular bed, we dont have anywhere to sleep, so we've been putting mats down on the balcony and sleeping. I've been on the phone crying, trying to get us somewhere, he's actually been crying," said Jennifer Macniell.
Southwest released a statement Monday afternoon, saying:
"Southwest Airlines extends a tremendous apology to our Customers and Employees for the flight cancellations and delays which occurred over the weekend and on Monday.
"On Friday evening, the airline ended the day with numerous cancellations, primarily created by weather and other external constraints, which left aircraft and Crews out of pre-planned positions to operate our schedule on Saturday. Unfortunately, the out-of-place aircraft and continued strain on our Crew resources created additional cancelations across our point-to-point network that cascaded throughout the weekend and into Monday.
"While we do not have specific airport numbers to share, Southwest Teams have been working diligently to restore stability to the network, and we are experiencing less disruptions on Monday. We hope to restore our full schedule as soon as possible. As a note, the operational challenges were not a result of Southwest Employee demonstrations, as some outlets are reporting.
"To every Customer that experienced a cancellation or delay, Southwest offers our sincerest regret regarding disrupted travel plans, and we look forward to a future opportunity to demonstrate our safe, reliable, friendly, and legendary Southwest Hospitality – something that Customers should always expect from Southwest Airlines.
"If Customers require assistance from Southwest, they can utilize one of the airline's self-service options for convenience or Contact Us via one of the methods listed on Southwest.com."
Stay with KDKA as we continue to monitor developments with any more cancellations or delays.
