People traveling across the US were left looking for alternative options after being stranded due to Southwest Airlines’ flight cancellations. Southwest Airlines blamed the cancellations on the massive snowstorms across the country, their outdated infrastructure, and scheduling problems.
Southwest Airlines canceled almost 16,000 flights due to winter weather, beginning on December 22 and continuing throughout the holiday week.
Passenger Dianne Martinez chose to travel from Charleston, South Carolina to Nashville, Tennessee, by driving for ten hours.
She said that no available seats were left for flights to Nashville, and alternative airlines charged incredibly high prices that ranged from $2,000 to $3,000. As a result, she waited for three hours to get a rental car. Halfway through the drive, she stayed in a hotel that cost her $600, which was still cheaper than getting a plane ticket from a different airline.
Another traveler affected by the cancellations was Derek Wood, who kept trying to book a flight from San Francisco to Los Angeles, California. He said that Southwest kept delaying the flight time three times until they finally told him the flight was canceled even though LA and San Francisco were unaffected by the weather.
Wood then rebooked through the airline’s app, but the airline canceled that flight as well. After hours of waiting, he finally decided to go on a nine-hour train and bus ride to go home.
Andy Lalwani is also one of the unfortunate people who had to deal with the airline’s cancellations. From Washington, DC, Lalwani was supposed to be on a flight to Chicago, Illinois, to see his boyfriend’s family and celebrate the New Year together. His flight on Southwest Airlines was canceled two days in advance. As a result, he bought a ticket from another airline, which was more than double the price of his Southwest ticket, so that he could get to Chicago on time.
Lalwani blamed the outdated technology and operations. He commented that the cancellations make travelers distrust the airlines.
Southwest Airlines CEO Bob Jordan apologized in a video statement about the airline’s failures during the holiday season.