Southwest Airlines Says Normal Operations Will Return Friday

(CNS) – Southwest Airlines was planning a return to normal operations with “minimal disruptions” Friday, one day after it canceled another 2,300-plus flights nationwide in the aftermath of weather and computer issues that left thousands stranded.

“We are encouraged by the progress we’ve made to realign crew, their schedules and our fleet,” Southwest said in a statement Thursday.

“With another holiday weekend full of important connections for our valued customers and employees, we are eager to return to a state of normalcy. We know even our deepest apologies — to our customers, to our employees and to all affected through this disruption — only go so far.”

The airline statement also said, “We plan to return to normal operations with minimal disruptions on Friday.”

Southwest officials said Thursday that the airline was operating roughly one-third of its schedule. In all, 2,364 Southwest flights were scrubbed Thursday — about 58% of the carrier’s schedule. Another 206 were delayed.

A total of 14 inbound and outbound Southwest flights at Palm Springs International Airport were canceled by Wednesday afternoon, according to the flight-tracking website FlightAware. Southwest accounted for the vast majority of the 16 overall flight cancellations to and from the airport. None were listed for Thursday.

Southwest has set up a page at Southwest.com/traveldisruption for customers to submit refund and reimbursement requests for meals, hotel and alternate transportation, as well as to connect customers to their baggage.

“We have much work ahead of us, including investing in new solutions to manage wide-scale disruptions,” the airline said. “We aim to serve our customers and employees with our legendary levels of Southwest hospitality and reliability again very soon.”

Meanwhile, long lines greeted travelers at airports in Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego and Riverside counties, with anxious travelers looking for flights on other airlines.

Thousands of passengers and their luggage also remained in limbo in Southern California and across the nation as Southwest works to recover from a failure in its scheduling systems combined with a devastating winter storm.

The airline has been working to reset its systems and reposition its aircraft and flight crews, many of which were left out of position as the weather and computer failures combined to devastate Southwest’s operations.

That led to mass cancellations of flights in Southern California and beyond — an estimated 13,000 in total — leaving many passengers stranded, unable to reach their destinations and often unable to even locate their checked luggage.

The airline previously issued an apology to stranded holiday travelers, stating that its operational challenges stem from last week’s historic winter storm.

“With consecutive days of extreme winter weather across our network behind us, continuing challenges are impacting our customers and employees in a significant way that is unacceptable,” according to the Southwest statement. “We’re working with safety at the forefront to urgently address wide-scale disruption by rebalancing the airline and repositioning crews and our fleet ultimately to best serve all who plan to travel with us.”

The airline added, “And our heartfelt apologies for this are just beginning.”

In a video posted online Tuesday afternoon, Southwest Airlines CEO Bob Jordan said that cadence would continue through the week as it works to reposition its crews and airplanes.

“We’re doing everything we can to return to a normal operation,” he said.

“… We always take care of our customers and we will lean in and go above and beyond as they would expect us to,” he said. “… Our plan for the next few days is to fly a reduced schedule and reposition our people and planes, and we’re making headway and we’re optimistic of being back on track before next week. We have some real work to do in making this right.”

Jordan again blamed the “bitter cold” for the problems, but also acknowledged that the airline needs to make improvements in its scheduling systems “so that we never again face what’s happening right now.”

Officials with the U.S. Department of Transportation issued a statement calling the Southwest situation “unacceptable.”

“USDOT is concerned by Southwest’s unacceptable rate of cancellations and delays and reports of lack of prompt customer service,” the department stated. “The department will examine whether cancellations were controllable and if Southwest is complying with its customer service plan.”

Jordan said in his video that he has reached out to U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to discuss the steps the airline has taken to rectify the issues.

Southwest said it was fully staffed late last week and prepared for the approaching Christmas weekend when severe weather swept across the continent.

“On the other side of this, we’ll work to make things right for those we’ve let down, including our employees,” the airline said.

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