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Southwest Airlines continued to cancel and postpone a handful of flights on Tuesday, despite expecting “exponential hour-by-hour improvement”.
The Texas-based airline said in a statement to Fox Business that it is projecting about 90 system-wide cancellations of the airline’s nearly 3,300 flights on Tuesday – marking the fifth day of operational problems for the airline.
Southwest canceled 87 flights as early as 11 a.m. ET, according to flight tracking service FlightAware. In the meantime, according to the information, around 370 flights have already been delayed.
| ticker | safety | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LUV | SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO. | 52.36 | +0.73 | +1.41% |
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It’s far from a weekend when the airline canceled more than 1,000 flights, or 29% of its schedule, on Sunday alone. On Saturday, the airline canceled 808 flights and was delayed 1,187 flights.
In this frame grab from the cell phone video, passengers look for information about their flights on Sunday, October 10, 2021 at Dallas Love Field. ((AP Photo / Julie March / AP Newsroom)
The disruption began to subside on Monday, with cancellations totaling 10% of Southwest’s schedule. According to FlightAware, at least 1,400 other flights, or about 40%, were delayed.
Southwest said it had experienced weather issues at its Florida airports earlier this weekend, exacerbated by unexpected air traffic control issues in the same region, resulting in delays and significant cancellations from Friday evening.
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“To sum up the weekend cancellations, bad weather and ATC problems in Florida, a big operation for us, on Friday night that caused significant flight disruptions across our network and we spent the weekend getting off the beaten track Number of displaced crews and aircraft to recover. “, The freight forwarder told FOX Business in a statement.
Uncollected baggage swells between the carousels for passengers arriving in Denver on Southwest Airlines flights at Denver International Airport late Sunday, October 10, 2021. (AP Photo / David Zalubowski / AP Newsroom)
The problems were “not the result of employee demonstrations, as some have reported,” the airline continued.
The disruption left passengers stranded and steamed from California to the east coast, with many venting their frustrations on social media.
CEO Gary Kelly apologized in an interview with Good Morning America on Tuesday morning to the affected customers, saying, “This is not what we want, but unfortunately it will only take a few days for things to get going again come.”
SOUTHWEST FLIGHT CANCELLATIONS, DELAYS REMAINING ON MONDAY AFTER THE POURING WEEKEND
The widespread interference began shortly after the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, which represents 9,000 pilots, petitioned a federal court on Friday to block the airline’s order to vaccinate all employees. The union argued that Southwest needed to negotiate the issue as there could be sick leave or disability if pilots respond to the vaccine.
However, the association denied claims it had any connection with the cancellations and delays.
“SWAPA is aware of the operational difficulties facing Southwest Airlines today due to a number of issues, but we can say with confidence that our pilots are not participating in any formal or unofficial work actions,” the organization said in a statement Saturday. “Our pilots will continue to overcome poor planning by SWA management as well as any external operational challenges and remain the most productive pilots in the world.”
Passengers line up at the ticket booth for Southwest Airlines flights at Eppley Airfield on Sunday, October 10, 2021 in Omaha, Nebraska. (AP Photo / David Zalubowski / AP Newsroom)
Meanwhile, the Federal Aviation Administration admitted delays in parts of Florida on Friday but declined the Southwest air traffic control statement. The FAA said on Sunday that “some airlines” are having problems with planes and crews out of position. Southwest was the only airline to report such a high percentage of canceled and delayed flights over the weekend.
Kelly defended the airline, saying it was hit so hard because over half of its fleet touched the Sunshine State.
“We have a linear route system. We are just different.” Kelly said, further arguing, that “everyone was affected on Friday and everyone was very affected”.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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