Weather leads to thousands of Southwest flight cancellations nationwide
Southwest Airlines canceled more than 2,800 flights across the nation Monday in the wake of the winter storm, according to flight tracker Flight Aware.
A Southwest spokesperson told the Star-Telegram in an email that “a significant portion” of the Dallas-based airlines’ published flight schedule had been affected.
According to Flight Aware, the canceled flights make up 68% of Southwest’s daily flights.
In a press release issued Monday, Southwest officials blamed the cancellations on “continuing challenges” from the recent extreme weather that impacted most of the nation and not a staffing shortage.
According to the press release, the airline was “fully staffed and prepared for the approaching holiday weekend” when a winter storm swept across the country.
“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,” officials said in the release.
An official confirmed to the Star-Telegram that travelers whose flights were canceled may request a full refund from the airline or a flight credit which won’t expire.
Monday’s cancellations were the latest in a string of hundreds of cancellations that plagued travelers over the Christmas weekend. On Christmas Day, there were 1,635 Southwest flights canceled nationwide, according to Flight Aware.
Aviation expert Steve Cosgrove told Star-Telegram media partner WFAA that Southwest was one of the airlines that had been hit the hardest by the winter storm.
“Southwest runs a very tight schedule,” Cosgrove told WFAA. “They turn a plane in 20 minutes. You start getting planes and crews out of place, it’s tough to get them back in place.”
In a press release Saturday, Southwest officials said they were working to “proactively manage and update” their flight schedules and operational plan.
“With more than half of the airports where we operate in the continental U.S. under duress from the storm, Southwest is uniquely affected given our size and structure,” the officials said.
This story was originally published December 26, 2022 at 5:00 PM.
