PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — More Southwest Airlines flights were canceled on Wednesday, leaving passengers stranded across the country and the company’s CEO apologizing for the massive mess.
Southwest canceled around 2,500 flights around the country on Wednesday. Twenty-three of them were slated to go in or out of Philadelphia International Airport — 88% of its local schedule. That’s two more canceled flights than the day before.
In a familiar scene at airports around the country, rows and rows of luggage were perched outside the Southwest baggage claim office at PHL. At the ticketing desk in Terminal E, passengers were seen storming off after talking to agents. Some burst into tears.
Mary Cajigas of Reading called her son in St. Louis to tell him that she wouldn’t make it.
“I stayed overnight in a hotel to get an early flight this morning, and when I got here they told me all the flights were canceled till New Year’s Eve or after New Year’s Day,” Cajigas said disappointedly. She had packed gifts for her family and was especially excited to see her grandson.
“There’s nothing to get me to [St. Louis] for a while, so there probably won’t be a Christmas visit.”
With a whole lot of angry passengers, spoiled holidays and scrutiny from public officials, Southwest Airlines issued an apology video by CEO Bob Jordan.
“I want everyone who is dealing with the problems we’ve been facing — whether you haven’t been able to get to where you need to go or you’re one of our heroic employees caught up in a massive effort to stabilize the airline — to know we’re doing everything we can to get back to a normal operation,” Jordan said.
He said the winter storm and deep freeze that hit a large portion of the country last week left flight crews and planes “out of position in dozens of locations.”
“Our plan for the next few days is to fly a reduced schedule and reposition our people and planes, and we’re making headway and we’re optimistic to be back on track before next week,” he added.
The Transport Workers Union Local 556 and the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, which reprepsent pilots and flight attendants, said Southwest’s scheduling system is out-of-date and it can’t properly keep track of where their crews are. Southwest is also drawing the ire from politicians and government officials.
“Southwest passengers have experienced unacceptable disruptions and customer service conditions,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said on Twitter. “I have made clear to their executives that our department will hold Southwest accountable for making things right with their customers and employees.”