Southwest Airlines in a nationwide meltdown

[Anonymous]

I find the people defending this situation and blaming it on the travelers themselves to be mind boggling. I personally was not affected by it (one of the few SW flights that was not cancelled from my departing airport). However, it looked just terrible for others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I want trains.

I want high-speed, reliable trains, that go everywhere, on time.

Heck, if we’re the Best Country In The World, these trains should be solar powered, have 5G connectivity, have cars with pet compartments so people can bring their dogs, and have both kid-friendly and kid-free cars. And while we’re at it, give the crew & railway workers paid sick leave.

Why can’t we have nice things?

Do you want to sit on a train for days to get to California? We're much further apart than Europe. Btw, my grandpa worked on the railroad. He had wonderful sick leave.

I prefer the buses to NYC. They drop off at multiple stops (no need to go to nasty union station) and they're very fast. They have wifi.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:We went to Hawaii last winter break and remember worrying our flight would be cancelled as thousands of flights were being cancelled daily. This seems like a repeat of last year except there really was a weather emergency. Add in Covid, flu, RSV, what a disaster.

Its such a stressful time to travel, I really don't understand why people do it. Especially rich people who presumably have very nice homes to spend the holiday in.

+1

So they can gather with family and friends mostly

Not worth the stress. Visit these people in mid January.

Not everybody can be a boomer like you and travel whenever you want. Those of us with kids in school cannot travel during the school year.

I do have school aged children. There are all sorts of random days off and even spring break, any of which would be better than traveling at Christmas.

My kids have different spring breaks and they are at different schools including college, so other than summer and winter break, there is no other time to travel. And we have not traveled to see family during the holidays since pre covid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I find the people defending this situation and blaming it on the travelers themselves to be mind boggling. I personally was not affected by it (one of the few SW flights that was not cancelled from my departing airport). However, it looked just terrible for others.

It's just one nasty troll. Don't feed it.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:NP. I'm truly amazed by the poster(s?) who's hellbent on blaming the stranded travelers. The total lack of humanity or empathy is breathtaking.

+1

It’s disgusting.

My favorite was the poster that said poor people shouldn't travel. I think DC moms are winning the title for sh!ttiest people.

In general, people shouldn't do things they can't afford.

Even poor people want to travel to see loved ones once in a while. You don't know if someone is traveling to see their terminally ill relative.

Have some humanity and just shut up already.

We want lots of things we can't afford. That's just life. People who spend money they don't have is a big part of the problem in this country.

No. Insufferable dickheads are a big part of the problem in this country.

Life isn't free and you can't have everything you want. Sorry that's so triggering for you.

They bought and paid for a flight. They are not receiving the service they paid for or being accommodated for their inconvenience. That's a a failure on the company's customer service not being poor.

If you aren't stranded at the airport over this why are you so invested? Don't fly SW again. But you seem oddly concerned about this situation that doesn't seem to directly impact you. What is your agenda here?

What’s your addenda needing to know mine? How does that help you here?

Because you have an apparent axe to grind. Did SW fire you at some point?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:We went to Hawaii last winter break and remember worrying our flight would be cancelled as thousands of flights were being cancelled daily. This seems like a repeat of last year except there really was a weather emergency. Add in Covid, flu, RSV, what a disaster.

Its such a stressful time to travel, I really don't understand why people do it. Especially rich people who presumably have very nice homes to spend the holiday in.

+1

So they can gather with family and friends mostly

Not worth the stress. Visit these people in mid January.

Not everybody can be a boomer like you and travel whenever you want. Those of us with kids in school cannot travel during the school year.

I do have school aged children. There are all sorts of random days off and even spring break, any of which would be better than traveling at Christmas.

My kids have different spring breaks and they are at different schools including college, so other than summer and winter break, there is no other time to travel. And we have not traveled to see family during the holidays since pre covid.

You and everyone else. And that's why its the most expensive and stressful time of year to travel! Enjoy!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I find the people defending this situation and blaming it on the travelers themselves to be mind boggling. I personally was not affected by it (one of the few SW flights that was not cancelled from my departing airport). However, it looked just terrible for others.

It’s like one person who got butthurt that their hot take at the beginning of the thread was completely wrong, so they’ve parked themselves here to defend their wrongness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:We went to Hawaii last winter break and remember worrying our flight would be cancelled as thousands of flights were being cancelled daily. This seems like a repeat of last year except there really was a weather emergency. Add in Covid, flu, RSV, what a disaster.

Its such a stressful time to travel, I really don't understand why people do it. Especially rich people who presumably have very nice homes to spend the holiday in.

+1

So they can gather with family and friends mostly

Not worth the stress. Visit these people in mid January.

Not everybody can be a boomer like you and travel whenever you want. Those of us with kids in school cannot travel during the school year.

I do have school aged children. There are all sorts of random days off and even spring break, any of which would be better than traveling at Christmas.

None of those are better for celebrating Christmas with loved ones.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:We went to Hawaii last winter break and remember worrying our flight would be cancelled as thousands of flights were being cancelled daily. This seems like a repeat of last year except there really was a weather emergency. Add in Covid, flu, RSV, what a disaster.

Its such a stressful time to travel, I really don't understand why people do it. Especially rich people who presumably have very nice homes to spend the holiday in.

+1

So they can gather with family and friends mostly

Not worth the stress. Visit these people in mid January.

Not everybody can be a boomer like you and travel whenever you want. Those of us with kids in school cannot travel during the school year.

I do have school aged children. There are all sorts of random days off and even spring break, any of which would be better than traveling at Christmas.

None of those are better for celebrating Christmas with loved ones.

Again, do whatever you want. But don't be shocked with its expensive, stressful, or disrupted. You are assuming a known risk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find the people defending this situation and blaming it on the travelers themselves to be mind boggling. I personally was not affected by it (one of the few SW flights that was not cancelled from my departing airport). However, it looked just terrible for others.

It’s like one person who got butthurt that their hot take at the beginning of the thread was completely wrong, so they’ve parked themselves here to defend their wrongness.

Yup. A butthurt troll.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:We went to Hawaii last winter break and remember worrying our flight would be cancelled as thousands of flights were being cancelled daily. This seems like a repeat of last year except there really was a weather emergency. Add in Covid, flu, RSV, what a disaster.

Its such a stressful time to travel, I really don't understand why people do it. Especially rich people who presumably have very nice homes to spend the holiday in.

The kids have two weeks off from school. I am pretty sure we traveled every winter break besides 2020.

That's totally fine, but surely you are not shocked that its expensive and stressful and sometimes affected by weathe or illness? These are just known risks. We have sometimes traveled during this two week period too, but we mostly have concluded its not our preferred time of year to travel for all of these reasons.

This.

I got unbelievably sick from food poising while in Paris several years ago. Couldn't get out of bed without passing out. Was in no condition to travel to airport let alone fly for 7 hours. I had to pay for 2 extra days in a hotel, a private medical service to administer IVs, a massive rebooking fee that was only $100 less than a new ticket, plus a very generous tip to hotel staff who had to deal with cleaning up a mess and kindly went above and beyond took care/assist me. It is part of traveling, things happen and unexpected expenses pop up.

oh no! I'm so sorry for this. That's why I always travel with zofran and immodium. I travel to 3rd world countries and one time almost missed a flight because I was so sick, never again.

+1

And Benadryl. Covers many bad issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I want trains.

I want high-speed, reliable trains, that go everywhere, on time.

Heck, if we’re the Best Country In The World, these trains should be solar powered, have 5G connectivity, have cars with pet compartments so people can bring their dogs, and have both kid-friendly and kid-free cars. And while we’re at it, give the crew & railway workers paid sick leave.

Why can’t we have nice things?

Because half of the voters are fcking idiots.

I fully support expanding our train network/services. That would be awesome.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I find the people defending this situation and blaming it on the travelers themselves to be mind boggling. I personally was not affected by it (one of the few SW flights that was not cancelled from my departing airport). However, it looked just terrible for others.

Fully agree. We made it home on the 24th on Jet Blue and felt incredibly lucky to just have a 1.5 hour delay. The airport was full of families with crying kids and elderly people in wheelchairs just abandoned by gates who had no where to go. The bathrooms were filthy and out of everything, the shops and restaurants were all closed so there was no food, people were desperately looking for hotel rooms, etc. It was horrible. I told the kids that none of the workers were to blame - everyone was just trying to get home to their families, whether they were flying on a plane or working at/for the airlines/airport. Overall, the travelers and workers did their best to give everyone grace, but it was a complete shit show.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I want trains.

I want high-speed, reliable trains, that go everywhere, on time.

Heck, if we’re the Best Country In The World, these trains should be solar powered, have 5G connectivity, have cars with pet compartments so people can bring their dogs, and have both kid-friendly and kid-free cars. And while we’re at it, give the crew & railway workers paid sick leave.

Why can’t we have nice things?

Do you want to sit on a train for days to get to California? We're much further apart than Europe. Btw, my grandpa worked on the railroad. He had wonderful sick leave.

I prefer the buses to NYC. They drop off at multiple stops (no need to go to nasty union station) and they're very fast. They have wifi.

They're entirely dependent on traffic. The last time I took one it was 9 hours from Dupont Circle to Penn Station. I would have paid anything to be on a train by hour 6.

[Anonymous]

I haven't read all the posts, but hope that Southwest can recover from this debacle. They are the only airline that allows a change without a fee and probably the only airline that does not impose a luggage charge.