CHICAGO (WLS) — Southwest Airlines continues Tuesday to deal with a crisis that has left thousands of passengers stranded across the country.
On Tuesday morning, Midway Airport was still crowded with frustrated travelers this morning.
Southwest Airlines canceled 60% of its flights on Tuesday.
Kitty Jarmon’s flight to DC was canceled just as she arrived at Midway.
“It’s just frustrating because I’m a single parent,” Jarmon said. “I have to go home. My kids are expecting me. I’m supposed to be at work today. I have to call and say I can’t be there.”
During the night, many Southwest passengers slept in the airport, exhausted and angry.
Bad Planning, Bad Luck, Systemic Challenges – Why Does Southwest Really Cancel Flights?
Sonia Konrad, 80, and her husband have been stranded here since Christmas Day.
Their Philadelphia-Chicago-San Diego flight was canceled and rebooking was a nightmare.
They are now trying to catch a flight to Philadelphia after missing the vacation with their son.
“Have some consideration,” Konrad said. “I don’t know, it’s just what do I do now? How do I get to Philadelphia? Start walking?”
The re-booking lines were long. In many cases, the next available flight is a few days away.
Linn Zeder going to California for a cruise.
“So if we’re not going on a cruise today, we tried to see if we could fly to the next place,” Zeder said. “It was double the price of the cruise.”
On Monday, 70% of Southwest flights were canceled, creating a chaotic scene in Midway.
The sea of unclaimed baggage has plagued the airline for days.
Jessica Ojeda returns to Denver without her bags.
“My luggage never made it here,” Ojeda said. “My trip is over and my luggage is still somewhere supposedly…we had to borrow clothes from family members and stuff just to get through.”
Southwest in a statement said: “Our sincere apologies for this are just the beginning.
“We anticipate further changes with an already reduced level of flights as we approach the upcoming New Year holiday period.”
Southwest said a system-wide waiver was in place until Jan. 2.
Customers with a South West booking from Sunday 25th December to Monday 2nd January may rebook in the original class of service or awaiting travel (within 14 days of their original travel date between home city pairs and in accordance with our accommodation procedures) at no additional charge,” the airline said.
But according to an industry expert, today’s passengers may be entitled to more than that.
“Make sure you keep those receipts because you’ll want to submit them to Southwest after the fact to see how you can get reimbursed for your hotel, meals, taxi ride, especially since it looks like it’s not a flurry of cancellations. “It’s weather-related as it was earlier in the week,” said Scott Keyes of Scott’s Cheap Flights.
The cancellations are the result of poor weather conditions that have ravaged Southwest’s point-to-point flight network, which is unique among major airlines.
“Southwest’s problem is really that the system is out of whack, and the blizzard is moving, and they just haven’t been able to reset the operation,” said DePaul University professor Joe Schwieterman. and aviation expert.
The US Department of Transportation tweeted, “USDOT is concerned about Southwest’s unacceptable rate of cancellations and delays.” & reports of lack of prompt customer service. The department will review whether the cancellations were controllable and whether Southwest is meeting its customer service plan. »
“The storm happened several days ago,” Zeder said. “It’s not like storms are new. It’s not like traveling on vacation is new.”
Naperville’s Cormacs missed a cruise.
“I would just say I’m frustrated,” Noelle Cormack said. For example, how could you not have seen this happen or how could they have better prepared for it?
“We are now going to have to pay for our hotel because you had to cancel it from yesterday,” Kathie Cormack said. “We can’t do that.”
Southwest Union captain and president Casey Murray told ABC News the situation was “catastrophic.”
“It was a failure on every level at Southwest. Our pilots, our frontline people worked under tremendous stress trying to get our passengers from A to B, but we were dealing with a very bad hand in this. about Southwest,” Murray said.
The flight attendants’ union also released a statement, saying, “Southwest Airlines has once again let down its employees, the result of years of refusal to modernize operations, notes TWU Local 556, the Southwest Airlines Flight Attendants’ Union. And this time it’s Christmas.”
The Chicago Department of Aviation released a statement saying, “At the Chicago Department of Aviation (CDA), the highest priority is to create a safe, secure and efficient environment for passengers and employees.
With support from Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot and CDA Commissioner Jamie L. Rhee, CDA staff, and airline and FAA partners, Chicago airports are handling increased passenger volume during the vacation period.
Passengers should check the flight status with their airline before traveling to the airports.
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