Southwest employees share flyers' frustration, try to lend helping hand where possible
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) — When Southwest flight attendant Corliss King walked into the airport Christmas Day, employees flocked to the union vice president.
Some had been stuck for days. They didn't know where to go, or who to call.
"I looked like a momma duck with 10 people trailing behind me with suitcases saying, 'I don't know what to do,'" she said.
Airline employees used to solving problems for travelers, found themselves without any solutions during the operations meltdown, and in a survival situation of their own.
Pilots were sleeping in terminals, on planes, or in homes of coworkers in whatever city they were stuck in, said Michael Panebianco, a member of the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association. He offered his own house in McKinney, since he was stuck in Florida with his family.
Facebook groups lit up as employees tried to find immediate solutions for food and a place to stay, while also handling things at home that they weren't going to make it back to.
When they'd head back to the airport, Panebianco said pilots would wander the concourse trying to cobble together a legal crew to fly, but could never get through to teams in Dallas to clear it.
Those operations teams often couldn't put things together on their own, King explained, because crew members had ended up stuck in different cities than where the computer system thought they should be.
Panebianco said he'd heard from dozens of pilots, who turned to handing out coffee or pizza to travelers they were stuck with, since there was little else they were able to do.
With flights slow to take off still on Wednesday, crews occasionally were still feeling frustration from passengers. One pilot had told Panebianco that he had taken his tie and epaulets off and left the airport.
"Because in some cases it's gotten to a point where passengers are so frustrated, and so upset and angry, that it's really gotten to a point of hostility in some areas," he said.
Usually, King noted, flight crews are good at making sure travelers don't see any operations-related difficulties that may be happening behind the scenes. In this case, there was no hiding it.
Wednesday, she said it was all hands on deck to get flight attendants back in cities so they can work again, but she said they'll need rest before being able to resume a regular schedule.
Panebianco said travelers should feel free to nod or say hi to crews passing through the airport the next few days, who just want to get back to normal as much as everyone else.
"We'd like to get you there as much as you want to get there," he said.
Southwest has since posted the following video statement:
