Southwest Airlines in a nationwide meltdown

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Like I said, SWA used to be a treasure when they were smaller
for us Texans. Herb K was a hero. It is a totally different airline now.

Once he left and the Wright Amendment was appealed they never invested in the infrastructure (IT and staff processes) to grow and now here we are.

OK, I let the first time go, but I can't this time. First, the word is repealed, not appealed. Second, the Wright Amendment was protectionist crap, and it's repeal can in no way be blamed for the has that SWA has created.

+1.

Ha, agreed. Love Field has 18 Southwest gates- a much smaller operation than they have in BWI, MDW, DEN, PHX, LAS, OAK, and probably a few others. The Wright Amendment repeal.did allow Southwest to build out their network out of DAL a bit more robustly than it has been before, but it wasn't some epochal moment for their network overall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Like I said, SWA used to be a treasure when they were smaller
for us Texans. Herb K was a hero. It is a totally different airline now.

Once he left and the Wright Amendment was appealed they never invested in the infrastructure (IT and staff processes) to grow and now here we are.

OK, I let the first time go, but I can't this time. First, the word is repealed, not appealed. Second, the Wright Amendment was protectionist crap, and it's repeal can in no way be blamed for the has that SWA has created.

If you're going to be snarky about grammar, you may want to proofread your own post. "its repeal". it's is the contraction, its is the possessive. Also "...for the has that SWA has created" is not a complete phrase.

Yeah, I saw that. The has was a typo that should have been hash. The it's was just a brain fart.

Although, I would point out two additional things:

- First, my initial post wasn't snarky.

- Second, using the incorrect word is not a grammar mistake. Charitably, it could be a typo; it's equally likely it's stupidity. Either way, it isn't grammar.

[Anonymous]

I feel very lucky. Because we live in the DC area, with 3 airport options, when my flight was cancelled, they were able to fly me into another airport the next day. I had to pay for a $125 uber ride to get me to my home (since the arrival airport was far), but I was so happy to be there that I didn't care. I was also able to find a hotel for the additional night that I was stuck in a city that we transferred through (on my own dime).

However, I was really horrified by what I saw at the airport that I departed from. Endless lines, people with little kids and elderly people sleeping on the floor of the airport, and people stuck there for several days until they could get a new flight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m in Upstate NY and our airports aren’t even opening until tomorrow. All the planes here are stuck here until the airports open. Buffalo has a big SW fleet.

This has a huge impact on the situation. People look out the window, think "Well the weather's nice here, there's no reason the plane can't be flying," without thinking about the systemic impact of a huge weather event in another city. And it's exacerbated by SWA not operating a hub system like other airlines.

The hilarious thing (if there's anything really funny here) is that the people who now are complaining that SWA doesn't operate like other airlines are the same people who previously flew and promoted SWA precisely *because* it doesn't operate like other airlines.

Yes, it’a hilarious that people who didn’t want to pay for checked luggage and seat assigments and get refundable tickets are being stranded apart from their luggage and family because Southwest is using an antiquated scheduling system.

Plenty of people have pointed out that Southwest relies on manual corrections/updates to crew locations and schedules when there are disruptions and that system essentially became unworkable which has meant that the impact of the weather has been much worse for Southwest than any other airline. The problems are as bad or worse at busy Southwest airports because they still aren’t able to get crew properly assigned to aircraft.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I feel very lucky. Because we live in the DC area, with 3 airport options, when my flight was cancelled, they were able to fly me into another airport the next day. I had to pay for a $125 uber ride to get me to my home (since the arrival airport was far), but I was so happy to be there that I didn't care. I was also able to find a hotel for the additional night that I was stuck in a city that we transferred through (on my own dime).

However, I was really horrified by what I saw at the airport that I departed from. Endless lines, people with little kids and elderly people sleeping on the floor of the airport, and people stuck there for several days until they could get a new flight.

Unpopular opinion but if you can’t afford an unexpected hotel for a few nights or a rental car to drive yourself home, you don’t have enough money to be flying in the first place. We are not rich, but my family would never sleep in an airport for one night, let alone multiple. Yes, the problem is southwest, but living so close to edge financially and still buying plane tickets is very irresponsible.

[Anonymous]

Our SW flight scheduled for Thursday afternoon was canceled out of Denver. After waiting on hold for 45 minutes, I was able to reschedule it for Christmas Day, arriving home at 7pm - if the flight operated on time.

We immediately got in the car and drove home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a top down systemic failure of running a company as close to the wire as you can get to maximize profits for shareholders and execs. That’s it. Plain and simple. One small domino tips and the whole thing falls. It is TIME for Congress to either approve fast speed cross country rail or make air travel a public utility. It cannot be that in the “wealthiest” nation on earth one of the six private air carriers can go down like this leaving people stranded across the country until Thursday / Friday at the earliest.

Lol

Hilarious. Sorry, I don't want to subsidize rich people vacationing at busy times.

People who think air travel makes one rich are so … juvenile. Reminds me when I was a kid and had no concept of anything so I thought stairs in your house made you rich.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP who hadn't followed this story until I saw this thread. Any operations experts who have thoughts on how SW can dig out from under this mess?

Cancel all flights for the next 3 days and use those dayso reposition planes and crews? Then let's say December 31st they start flying normal routes with passengers already booked on those flights - i.e. no bumping people like the family with kids earlier in this thread. Meanwhile, offer refunds to any passengers from this week who agree to find alternative transportation (rebook on other airlines, drive, train, etc). You could also offer refunds or other perks to people on those flights scheduled Dec 31st or later who are willing to be bumped.

Is that a way out?

I don’t think they’re flying at all the next 3 days anyway. Everything I’ve seen says SW has told people they are not flying on rebooked flights any earlier than Thursday or Friday. There’s clearly some dead zone between Monday and Thursday where almost no SW flights are operating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a top down systemic failure of running a company as close to the wire as you can get to maximize profits for shareholders and execs. That’s it. Plain and simple. One small domino tips and the whole thing falls. It is TIME for Congress to either approve fast speed cross country rail or make air travel a public utility. It cannot be that in the “wealthiest” nation on earth one of the six private air carriers can go down like this leaving people stranded across the country until Thursday / Friday at the earliest.

Lol

Hilarious. Sorry, I don't want to subsidize rich people vacationing at busy times.

People who think air travel makes one rich are so … juvenile. Reminds me when I was a kid and had no concept of anything so I thought stairs in your house made you rich.

So true. I thought that people with 1.5 bathrooms were rich.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel very lucky. Because we live in the DC area, with 3 airport options, when my flight was cancelled, they were able to fly me into another airport the next day. I had to pay for a $125 uber ride to get me to my home (since the arrival airport was far), but I was so happy to be there that I didn't care. I was also able to find a hotel for the additional night that I was stuck in a city that we transferred through (on my own dime).

However, I was really horrified by what I saw at the airport that I departed from. Endless lines, people with little kids and elderly people sleeping on the floor of the airport, and people stuck there for several days until they could get a new flight.

Unpopular opinion but if you can’t afford an unexpected hotel for a few nights or a rental car to drive yourself home, you don’t have enough money to be flying in the first place. We are not rich, but my family would never sleep in an airport for one night, let alone multiple. Yes, the problem is southwest, but living so close to edge financially and still buying plane tickets is very irresponsible.

You don’t get it. So many flights (thousands, hundreds alone in some airports) were canceled that on top of regular holiday tourism, there are no more hotel rooms to get in a lot of these places. Same with rental cars. It’s not that everyone can’t afford it, it’s they’re GONE. Your money is only so useful to you if there’s stuff to buy with it. For a lot of these places, there isn’t.

[Anonymous]

I feel very lucky. Because we live in the DC area, with 3 airport options, when my flight was cancelled, they were able to fly me into another airport the next day. I had to pay for a $125 uber ride to get me to my home (since the arrival airport was far), but I was so happy to be there that I didn't care. I was also able to find a hotel for the additional night that I was stuck in a city that we transferred through (on my own dime).

However, I was really horrified by what I saw at the airport that I departed from. Endless lines, people with little kids and elderly people sleeping on the floor of the airport, and people stuck there for several days until they could get a new flight.


Unpopular opinion but if you can’t afford an unexpected hotel for a few nights or a rental car to drive yourself home, you don’t have enough money to be flying in the first place. We are not rich, but my family would never sleep in an airport for one night, let alone multiple. Yes, the problem is southwest, but living so close to edge financially and still buying plane tickets is very irresponsible.

I have no idea if finances were the reason people were sleeping at the airport. I didn't interview them. It could be that they were hoping delayed flights would go out, and by the time they learned they would not, hotels near the airport were taken.

Also, part of the reason I could wait in line for almost three hours (I am A list, so my line was shorter) to be rebooked is that I have a 14 year old. I cannot imagine doing that from 8-10:45pm with little kids. Maybe some people gave up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is crazy is that Southwest is no longer a low cost carrier. Prices are generally on par with American, United, etc There is no excuse for this.

Prices have been crazy on SWA whenever I check for their flights out of any of the DC area airports.

If you have an airline branded credit card or the lowest tier of status, that helps replace any of the “free” baggage perks on Southwest.

I’m convinced that so many people have the Southwest Companion Pass that the company prices flights based on that model (eg, 2 for the price of 1). If you are not playing the Companion Pass game, you’re SOL on Southwest and are better off flying a legacy carrier + getting a branded credit card.

I hate Southwest but since BWI is my closest airport, it feels like they’re my only/best option almost every time I fly. I wish another airline would expand at BWI.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel very lucky. Because we live in the DC area, with 3 airport options, when my flight was cancelled, they were able to fly me into another airport the next day. I had to pay for a $125 uber ride to get me to my home (since the arrival airport was far), but I was so happy to be there that I didn't care. I was also able to find a hotel for the additional night that I was stuck in a city that we transferred through (on my own dime).

However, I was really horrified by what I saw at the airport that I departed from. Endless lines, people with little kids and elderly people sleeping on the floor of the airport, and people stuck there for several days until they could get a new flight.

Unpopular opinion but if you can’t afford an unexpected hotel for a few nights or a rental car to drive yourself home, you don’t have enough money to be flying in the first place. We are not rich, but my family would never sleep in an airport for one night, let alone multiple. Yes, the problem is southwest, but living so close to edge financially and still buying plane tickets is very irresponsible.

You don’t get it. So many flights (thousands, hundreds alone in some airports) were canceled that on top of regular holiday tourism, there are no more hotel rooms to get in a lot of these places. Same with rental cars. It’s not that everyone can’t afford it, it’s they’re GONE. Your money is only so useful to you if there’s stuff to buy with it. For a lot of these places, there isn’t.

I haven’t heard of anyone being stranded who has funds for a solution. All the posts instead are about how to be reimbursed. People with money have options. You can Uber offsite to a place that still has rental cars or a hotel further away from the airport.

[Anonymous]

I haven’t heard of anyone being stranded who has funds for a solution. All the posts instead are about how to be reimbursed. People with money have options. You can Uber offsite to a place that still has rental cars or a hotel further away from the airport.

That's not going to work if you are hoping to get on another flight on standby. You need to be near the airport, or at the airport.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel very lucky. Because we live in the DC area, with 3 airport options, when my flight was cancelled, they were able to fly me into another airport the next day. I had to pay for a $125 uber ride to get me to my home (since the arrival airport was far), but I was so happy to be there that I didn't care. I was also able to find a hotel for the additional night that I was stuck in a city that we transferred through (on my own dime).

However, I was really horrified by what I saw at the airport that I departed from. Endless lines, people with little kids and elderly people sleeping on the floor of the airport, and people stuck there for several days until they could get a new flight.

Unpopular opinion but if you can’t afford an unexpected hotel for a few nights or a rental car to drive yourself home, you don’t have enough money to be flying in the first place. We are not rich, but my family would never sleep in an airport for one night, let alone multiple. Yes, the problem is southwest, but living so close to edge financially and still buying plane tickets is very irresponsible.

You don’t get it. So many flights (thousands, hundreds alone in some airports) were canceled that on top of regular holiday tourism, there are no more hotel rooms to get in a lot of these places. Same with rental cars. It’s not that everyone can’t afford it, it’s they’re GONE. Your money is only so useful to you if there’s stuff to buy with it. For a lot of these places, there isn’t.

I haven’t heard of anyone being stranded who has funds for a solution. All the posts instead are about how to be reimbursed. People with money have options. You can Uber offsite to a place that still has rental cars or a hotel further away from the airport.

In our situation, we just didn't return our rental car. We called and extended it to return the car in our home state, which was five states away. The rental car agency didn't blink or even charge us that much for the extra days/different return location.

We were traveling with two other families. One family did exactly the same thing we did with no issues. The other family exchanged their small rental car for a larger one so it would be more comfortable for the over 1000-mile drive home.

We had money, sure, but it didn't take THAT much more money.