Yesterday, Southwest Airlines, cancelled 2900 Flights, which is about 70% of their total flight volume. Another 750 were delayed by a significant amount. Today and tomorrow aren’t looking much better. Today, 2500 Flights have been cancelled, and just about the same for tomorrow. (Every time I check up on flightaware, the numbers are going up). This is about 60% of all Southwest flights. Major issues have been reported out at DIA including thousands of passengers’ luggage piling up all over, from the baggage area, to the tarmac. Southwest Airlines seems to be blaming the majority of delays and cancellations on weather, but the luggage problem is attributed to a lack of ramp workers in Denver. Southwest had to Declare an emergency here due to lack of staff, and required sick notes from doctors to skip work. Airline watchdog JonNYC posted this Emergency Declaration from Southwest, and followed up with a rumor that 100 Ramp Agents quit.
Things seem to be going well at southwest pic.twitter.com/5ChyDpAxv9
— ?? JonNYC ?? (@xJonNYC) December 24, 2022
All this comes at a terrible time for travelling, since everyone has to get back to work and School. People rescheduling have driven up the demand and price for last minute tickets. If you were in New York for the Holidays, Expedia could get you home before the weekend, but it would cost you at least $1,750 to get there. Chicago to Denver is well over $1,000 in the next few days. Due to these prices, many people are settling for a rental car to get home.
Here’s Southwest’s Official Statement: We are still experiencing disruptions across our network as a result of Winter Storm lingering effects on the totality of our operation. With the weather now considerably more favorable, we continue work to stabilize and improve our operation. We are re-accommodating as many Customers as possible, based on available space, whose itineraries have been disrupted. Those whose flights have been canceled may request a full refund or receive a flight credit, which does not expire. Information for Customers with lost baggage is here:
https://www.southwest.com/help/baggage/lost-damaged-baggage …
