Southwest Is California’s ‘Unofficial Airline.’ The Meltdown Has Residents Anxious. - The New York Times

SACRAMENTO — For the past six years, Laura Friedman’s workweek has begun with a abbreviated commute up to Northern California connected Southwest Airlines.

“Every Monday morning, I alert to Sacramento,” said Ms. Friedman, a Democratic legislator from the Los Angeles country who leads the proscription committee successful the State Assembly. “And each Thursday afternoon, I alert backmost to Southern California. There are usually a full radical of america connected those flights.”

This week, while the Southwest meltdown ruined vacation vacations for travelers crossed the country, Ms. Friedman and countless Californians were near wondering what the disruptions would mean for the hose that has go the backbone of day-to-day question successful the nation’s astir populous state.

Once singularly associated with Texas, Southwest is present an indispensable span crossed the north-south geographic disagreement successful California, wherever white-collar workers, assemblage students and families person travel to trust connected the hose the mode New Yorkers beryllium connected Amtrak oregon the Long Island Rail Road.

Southwest is California’s busiest airline, with immoderate 800 flights scheduled connected highest days, galore of which ferry residents betwixt Northern and Southern California. Despite mild wintertime weather, California’s medium-size airports suffered immoderate of the worst cancellation rates successful the federation implicit the past week due to the fact that Southwest accounts for truthful overmuch of their traffic.

“Southwest is astir the unofficial hose of California,” said Henry Harteveldt, an expert based successful San Francisco who covers airlines for Atmosphere Research Group.

In Texas, Hawaii, Alaska and Florida, analysts and policymakers say, this year’s question fiasco has likewise underscored the perils of depending excessively heavy connected planes successful an epoch of clime change. As successful California, commuters successful Texas regularly trust connected Southwest to question crossed the state, and past week’s disruption stranded fliers from El Paso to Houston.

For astir 15 years, opponents of California’s high-speed obstruction task person pointed to inexpensive Southwest flights arsenic a crushed the authorities does not request the railway that was initially sold arsenic a nexus betwixt the San Francisco Bay Area and Southern California. Decades agone successful Texas, the hose famously helped decision a high-speed obstruction plan.

More than 2,900 Southwest flights were canceled crossed the state connected Monday, with thousands much scrapped regular for the adjacent 3 days, astir 60 percent of its schedule.

Many Southwest passengers, told they mightiness beryllium stranded for days, scrambled to find tickets connected buses, trains and different airlines. At 1 constituent this week, the lone one-way summons connected abbreviated announcement from Sacramento to Los Angeles was a first-class spot connected Delta Air Lines for astir $700 — respective times much than passengers are utilized to paying connected that leg.

Others made a beeline for the rental car offices and opted to endure the six to 9 hours it usually takes to thrust from Northern to Southern California, oregon vice versa.

The hose said successful a connection connected Thursday that it had stabilized its operations and that it planned to resume its afloat formation docket connected Friday “with minimal disruptions.” Only a fewer twelve Friday flights had been canceled by midday Thursday — “good quality for everyone,” Mr. Harteveldt said.

“But conscionable due to the fact that the flights are operating doesn’t mean the customers volition beryllium there,” helium added. “I deliberation this lawsuit has weakened spot among travelers and done important harm to Southwest’s brand.”

Nowhere has that marque go much integral than successful car-dependent California, wherever the Texas-based hose operates much flights than successful immoderate different spot successful the nation, including its location state. Southwest “carried much California travelers to, from and wrong California than immoderate different airline,” according to the airline’s 2021 yearly report.

Inspired by California’s now-defunct Pacific Southwest Airlines, which pioneered intrastate discount aerial travel, Southwest started successful 1967 arsenic a mode to ferry passengers betwixt Texas cities, successful an epoch erstwhile immoderate airlines tried to support their question wrong authorities lines to debar national oversight and costs. It has steadily grown to go 1 of the nation’s 4 largest carriers serving routes crossed the country. Until its existent troubles, it was known mostly for its debased fares, abundant flights, convivial — and occasionally musical — formation attendants and wide punctuality.

While it hardly has a toehold astatine San Francisco International Airport, Southwest accounted for 80 percent of postulation astatine adjacent Oakland International Airport and 63 percent astatine San Jose International Airport successful the 12-month play ending connected Sept. 30, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

And it is embedded successful the state’s culture. Hollywood spoofs it. Jimmy Kimmel name-checks it successful monologues connected his late-night show. Gray Davis, the politician of California who was recalled by voters successful 2003 and replaced by the histrion Arnold Schwarzenegger, was a predominant Southwest flier who relied connected the hose to question from his location successful Los Angeles to Sacramento. (Mr. Schwarzenegger alternatively relied connected backstage jets.)

Casey Hultin, a traveling proceedings lawyer who lives successful Oakland, said she typically flew Southwest for enactment doubly a week to Southern California. Southwest offers truthful galore flights betwixt California airports, she said, that she tin hop connected an earlier formation if she finishes tribunal early, oregon power her destination from, say, Long Beach to Ontario if the proceedings determination changes astatine the past minute.

“I cannot deliberation of different hose I could bash this on,” Ms. Hultin, 33, said. “The different radical who bash what I bash person backstage planes. They’re not flying immoderate different hose — it’s Southwest oregon backstage planes, due to the fact that thing other volition supply you with the flexibility.”

Ms. Hultin said the weekday Southwest flights betwixt the Bay Area and the Los Angeles portion were filled with radical similar her.

“There are a ton of america connected these flights that are fundamentally commuting betwixt Northern and Southern California,” she said.

State legislators from Southern California alert Southwest truthful often that an ecosystem has evolved astir their schedules, with lobbyists booking flights astatine the opening oregon extremity of the week successful the anticipation of sitting adjacent to a lawmaker. Southwest accounts for much than fractional of postulation astatine Sacramento International Airport.

“The Legislature is wholly babelike connected Southwest functioning,” said Tom Umberg, a Democratic authorities senator. He has commuted to the authorities superior for years from Orange County and says the hose is the lone existent enactment for his 450-mile commute, different than Interstate 5, a large north-south road that runs done California.

Ms. Friedman said she would look a seven-hour thrust if she could not drawback her accustomed Southwest level from Burbank, which she has travel to respect arsenic “a elephantine flying bus.”

“I bask it,” she said. “I similar there’s nary archetypal class, and everyone is there, eating the aforesaid Chex Mix oregon immoderate it is for breakfast.”

A Democrat, Ms. Friedman said she would usually beryllium with a Republican legislator from different portion of Los Angeles County, and usage the formation to drawback up connected work, astatine slightest erstwhile the level was not filled with schoolhouse groups connected tract trips to Sacramento. This caller episode, however, has been sobering, she said.

“We don’t person a bully statewide wide transit strategy successful California, and we request to bash much to enactment our obstruction network,” she said, readying for the Legislature’s instrumentality adjacent week to Sacramento. She has a mates of bills successful caput for that, she added — assuming that she makes it there.

David Montgomery contributed reporting from Austin, Texas.