Southwest Airlines in a nationwide meltdown

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FLL is already a mess PP.

Flight 1009 on Friday, 12/30/22, from FLL to DAL, 6:25am ET takeoff.

Boarding scheduled to begin at 5:55am ET.

Southwest began their onboarding announcements at 5:45am ET and outlined how we would board by sections.

At 5:50am ET a text message came across to my phone, saying the flight was delayed. The announcer then said he had some bad news, and that the flight was delayed until 9am, due to the fact they had no pilot.

How in the world, at 5:50am ET, did they not know they had no pilot for their 6:25am ET flight?!? All this on the day they opened back up their flights and supposedly had things sorted out?

We will miss our connection home.

I was supposed to fly down to Florida Monday and home tomorrow from FLL. We could have switched to AA for the trip down and made it but we decided to drive and I’m so glad we did. Although I’m not looking forward to the drive home, and not going to make it home by NYE.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FLL is already a mess PP.

Flight 1009 on Friday, 12/30/22, from FLL to DAL, 6:25am ET takeoff.

Boarding scheduled to begin at 5:55am ET.

Southwest began their onboarding announcements at 5:45am ET and outlined how we would board by sections.

At 5:50am ET a text message came across to my phone, saying the flight was delayed. The announcer then said he had some bad news, and that the flight was delayed until 9am, due to the fact they had no pilot.

How in the world, at 5:50am ET, did they not know they had no pilot for their 6:25am ET flight?!? All this on the day they opened back up their flights and supposedly had things sorted out?

We will miss our connection home.

I was supposed to fly down to Florida Monday and home tomorrow from FLL. We could have switched to AA for the trip down and made it but we decided to drive and I’m so glad we did. Although I’m not looking forward to the drive home, and not going to make it home by NYE.

Plan on your drive trip taking twice as long as it should - EVERYONE is one the road, and there are lengthy delays due to traffic and construction along the east coast.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FLL is already a mess PP.

Flight 1009 on Friday, 12/30/22, from FLL to DAL, 6:25am ET takeoff.

Boarding scheduled to begin at 5:55am ET.

Southwest began their onboarding announcements at 5:45am ET and outlined how we would board by sections.

At 5:50am ET a text message came across to my phone, saying the flight was delayed. The announcer then said he had some bad news, and that the flight was delayed until 9am, due to the fact they had no pilot.

How in the world, at 5:50am ET, did they not know they had no pilot for their 6:25am ET flight?!? All this on the day they opened back up their flights and supposedly had things sorted out?

We will miss our connection home.

I’m so sorry

We have been on multiple flights on various airlines over the past few months where a crew member came running into the boarding area at the very last minute, seemingly just as the gate attendant was drawing breath to announce that the flight would be delayed. They must have been hoping for the best as long as they could hold out. They may not have known if the pilot was working their way through the concourse or stuck somewhere miles away.

[Anonymous]

To those affected by SW and their incompetence, you have my sympathies. Weather happens, mixups happen, stuff happens, but Southwest and their efforts in the last week are not acceptable.

I live equal distance from BWI and Dulles- near Frederick, while I favor IAD and United, I have flown Southwest plenty and never had any serious issues. Like many, I don’t like their checkin and boarding process, but if the fare is a lot cheaper I’m ok with SW. This latest debacle with SW will probably change my mind when considering them. Also, for all their talk about “low fares,” it’s just talk. Their pricing is pretty similar to all the other carriers.

[Anonymous]

I live equal distance from BWI and Dulles- near Frederick, while I favor IAD and United, I have flown Southwest plenty and never had any serious issues. Like many, I don’t like their checkin and boarding process, but if the fare is a lot cheaper I’m ok with SW. This latest debacle with SW will probably change my mind when considering them. Also, for all their talk about “low fares,” it’s just talk. Their pricing is pretty similar to all the other carriers.

Agreed on the pricing generally, but if you can get the companion pass, and have a child or partner, it can save you a lot of money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To those affected by SW and their incompetence, you have my sympathies. Weather happens, mixups happen, stuff happens, but Southwest and their efforts in the last week are not acceptable.

I live equal distance from BWI and Dulles- near Frederick, while I favor IAD and United, I have flown Southwest plenty and never had any serious issues. Like many, I don’t like their checkin and boarding process, but if the fare is a lot cheaper I’m ok with SW. This latest debacle with SW will probably change my mind when considering them. Also, for all their talk about “low fares,” it’s just talk. Their pricing is pretty similar to all the other carriers.

Maybe I’m flying different routes, but I live near IAD and almost always take SW out of DCA because United is usually $50-$100 per ticket more, and we have 4 tickets to buy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To those affected by SW and their incompetence, you have my sympathies. Weather happens, mixups happen, stuff happens, but Southwest and their efforts in the last week are not acceptable.

I live equal distance from BWI and Dulles- near Frederick, while I favor IAD and United, I have flown Southwest plenty and never had any serious issues. Like many, I don’t like their checkin and boarding process, but if the fare is a lot cheaper I’m ok with SW. This latest debacle with SW will probably change my mind when considering them. Also, for all their talk about “low fares,” it’s just talk. Their pricing is pretty similar to all the other carriers.

Maybe I’m flying different routes, but I live near IAD and almost always take SW out of DCA because United is usually $50-$100 per ticket more, and we have 4 tickets to buy.

^^^plus United like to change their flight schedule a bunch of times until the nonstop flight you bought no longer exists and your other options are limited. I agree SW screwed the pooch here but don’t act like United is a paragon of virtue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To those affected by SW and their incompetence, you have my sympathies. Weather happens, mixups happen, stuff happens, but Southwest and their efforts in the last week are not acceptable.

I live equal distance from BWI and Dulles- near Frederick, while I favor IAD and United, I have flown Southwest plenty and never had any serious issues. Like many, I don’t like their checkin and boarding process, but if the fare is a lot cheaper I’m ok with SW. This latest debacle with SW will probably change my mind when considering them. Also, for all their talk about “low fares,” it’s just talk. Their pricing is pretty similar to all the other carriers.

Maybe I’m flying different routes, but I live near IAD and almost always take SW out of DCA because United is usually $50-$100 per ticket more, and we have 4 tickets to buy.

+1 That's been my experience as well. I also prefer the smaller hubs that SW uses in some cities. For example, when we fly to Dallas, people who fly other airlines into Dallas/FW International Airport always complain about how terrible the airport is. At Love Field, it's pretty much in and out.

[Anonymous]

Wanna get away?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wanna get away?

I'm sure that every one of their public-facing employees does! I can't even imagine the stress of it all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To those affected by SW and their incompetence, you have my sympathies. Weather happens, mixups happen, stuff happens, but Southwest and their efforts in the last week are not acceptable.

I live equal distance from BWI and Dulles- near Frederick, while I favor IAD and United, I have flown Southwest plenty and never had any serious issues. Like many, I don’t like their checkin and boarding process, but if the fare is a lot cheaper I’m ok with SW. This latest debacle with SW will probably change my mind when considering them. Also, for all their talk about “low fares,” it’s just talk. Their pricing is pretty similar to all the other carriers.

Maybe I’m flying different routes, but I live near IAD and almost always take SW out of DCA because United is usually $50-$100 per ticket more, and we have 4 tickets to buy.

^^^plus United like to change their flight schedule a bunch of times until the nonstop flight you bought no longer exists and your other options are limited. I agree SW screwed the pooch here but don’t act like United is a paragon of virtue.

Everyone’s experience is different but I have never had an issue with United. We’ve changed our tickets with ease, got credits when we canceled that were easy to use to rebook, no delays or cancellations . I almost always book United. Last week when the storm was forecast they offered free flight changes if you were worried your day/time would be impacted and could move it, which we did. I know this isn’t the case for everyone but truly United is our choice airline for these reasons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To those affected by SW and their incompetence, you have my sympathies. Weather happens, mixups happen, stuff happens, but Southwest and their efforts in the last week are not acceptable.

I live equal distance from BWI and Dulles- near Frederick, while I favor IAD and United, I have flown Southwest plenty and never had any serious issues. Like many, I don’t like their checkin and boarding process, but if the fare is a lot cheaper I’m ok with SW. This latest debacle with SW will probably change my mind when considering them. Also, for all their talk about “low fares,” it’s just talk. Their pricing is pretty similar to all the other carriers.

Maybe I’m flying different routes, but I live near IAD and almost always take SW out of DCA because United is usually $50-$100 per ticket more, and we have 4 tickets to buy.

^^^plus United like to change their flight schedule a bunch of times until the nonstop flight you bought no longer exists and your other options are limited. I agree SW screwed the pooch here but don’t act like United is a paragon of virtue.

Everyone’s experience is different but I have never had an issue with United. We’ve changed our tickets with ease, got credits when we canceled that were easy to use to rebook, no delays or cancellations . I almost always book United. Last week when the storm was forecast they offered free flight changes if you were worried your day/time would be impacted and could move it, which we did. I know this isn’t the case for everyone but truly United is our choice airline for these reasons.

DP. Hopefully they got their act together. United used to be the absolute worst. Guess SW now has that honor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To those affected by SW and their incompetence, you have my sympathies. Weather happens, mixups happen, stuff happens, but Southwest and their efforts in the last week are not acceptable.

I live equal distance from BWI and Dulles- near Frederick, while I favor IAD and United, I have flown Southwest plenty and never had any serious issues. Like many, I don’t like their checkin and boarding process, but if the fare is a lot cheaper I’m ok with SW. This latest debacle with SW will probably change my mind when considering them. Also, for all their talk about “low fares,” it’s just talk. Their pricing is pretty similar to all the other carriers.

Maybe I’m flying different routes, but I live near IAD and almost always take SW out of DCA because United is usually $50-$100 per ticket more, and we have 4 tickets to buy.

^^^plus United like to change their flight schedule a bunch of times until the nonstop flight you bought no longer exists and your other options are limited. I agree SW screwed the pooch here but don’t act like United is a paragon of virtue.

Everyone’s experience is different but I have never had an issue with United. We’ve changed our tickets with ease, got credits when we canceled that were easy to use to rebook, no delays or cancellations . I almost always book United. Last week when the storm was forecast they offered free flight changes if you were worried your day/time would be impacted and could move it, which we did. I know this isn’t the case for everyone but truly United is our choice airline for these reasons.

There was definitely a period of time where every flight I booked on United got changed/altered so many times before I actually flew that the schedule was unrecognizable. I’d go from a 9am nonstop to an 8pm with a connection. And this happened over and over again to where we just gave up flying them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To those affected by SW and their incompetence, you have my sympathies. Weather happens, mixups happen, stuff happens, but Southwest and their efforts in the last week are not acceptable.

I live equal distance from BWI and Dulles- near Frederick, while I favor IAD and United, I have flown Southwest plenty and never had any serious issues. Like many, I don’t like their checkin and boarding process, but if the fare is a lot cheaper I’m ok with SW. This latest debacle with SW will probably change my mind when considering them. Also, for all their talk about “low fares,” it’s just talk. Their pricing is pretty similar to all the other carriers.

Maybe I’m flying different routes, but I live near IAD and almost always take SW out of DCA because United is usually $50-$100 per ticket more, and we have 4 tickets to buy.

^^^plus United like to change their flight schedule a bunch of times until the nonstop flight you bought no longer exists and your other options are limited. I agree SW screwed the pooch here but don’t act like United is a paragon of virtue.

Everyone’s experience is different but I have never had an issue with United. We’ve changed our tickets with ease, got credits when we canceled that were easy to use to rebook, no delays or cancellations . I almost always book United. Last week when the storm was forecast they offered free flight changes if you were worried your day/time would be impacted and could move it, which we did. I know this isn’t the case for everyone but truly United is our choice airline for these reasons.

DP. Hopefully they got their act together. United used to be the absolute worst. Guess SW now has that honor.

I am definitely going to be stalking my spring break flights on SW in the hopes that prices drop over all this mess due to cancellations/lower demand. That would be awesome!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To those affected by SW and their incompetence, you have my sympathies. Weather happens, mixups happen, stuff happens, but Southwest and their efforts in the last week are not acceptable.

I live equal distance from BWI and Dulles- near Frederick, while I favor IAD and United, I have flown Southwest plenty and never had any serious issues. Like many, I don’t like their checkin and boarding process, but if the fare is a lot cheaper I’m ok with SW. This latest debacle with SW will probably change my mind when considering them. Also, for all their talk about “low fares,” it’s just talk. Their pricing is pretty similar to all the other carriers.

Maybe I’m flying different routes, but I live near IAD and almost always take SW out of DCA because United is usually $50-$100 per ticket more, and we have 4 tickets to buy.

^^^plus United like to change their flight schedule a bunch of times until the nonstop flight you bought no longer exists and your other options are limited. I agree SW screwed the pooch here but don’t act like United is a paragon of virtue.

Everyone’s experience is different but I have never had an issue with United. We’ve changed our tickets with ease, got credits when we canceled that were easy to use to rebook, no delays or cancellations . I almost always book United. Last week when the storm was forecast they offered free flight changes if you were worried your day/time would be impacted and could move it, which we did. I know this isn’t the case for everyone but truly United is our choice airline for these reasons.

There was definitely a period of time where every flight I booked on United got changed/altered so many times before I actually flew that the schedule was unrecognizable. I’d go from a 9am nonstop to an 8pm with a connection. And this happened over and over again to where we just gave up flying them.

Southwest screwed up this holiday season, no doubt, and I understand why their system of circular travel was most impacted by the storms and then completely destroyed when there were software problems. At the same time, with everyone screaming about Southwest's inefficient system, aren't we overlooking the benefits of that system, which in my experience, is fewer connections and more direct flights?