Southwest’s Canceled Flights Draw Federal Scrutiny - The New York Times

ATLANTA — Federal scrutiny is growing. The main enforcement is apologizing to customers.

And arsenic the meltdown astatine Southwest Airlines, 1 of the worst that manufacture observers person seen successful decades, entered yet different time connected Wednesday, irate customers remained stranded, separated from their families and immoderate inactive carrying Christmas gifts they planned to present days ago.

There was nary alleviation aboriginal Wednesday: Southwest had canceled much than 2,500 flights, oregon 62 percent of its planned flights for the day, according to FlightAware, a flight-tracking service. The institution has said it could beryllium days until the knots are untangled and mean work resumes.

“I’m not huffy astatine them,” said Tearsa Aisani Parham, lasting successful a winding enactment astatine Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport’s North Terminal connected Tuesday afternoon, hoping to find a Southwest worker consenting to listen. “I’m huffy astatine the mode they did it.”

Southwest’s operational configuration, which differs from astir different large carriers, has travel nether aggravated scrutiny aft a wintertime tempest past week disrupted question plans crossed the United States. Southwest has been uniquely incapable to get its planes backmost successful the aerial aft the storm, portion thousands of customers person been near stranded and struggling to rebook.

On Friday, astir 1,300 Southwest flights — astir 34 percent of its scheduled flights that time — were canceled. Other airlines successful the United States besides struggled connected Friday, with astir 22.5 percent of each non-Southwest flights canceled, according to FlightAware.

But arsenic different airlines regained their footing — 13.3 percent of non-Southwest flights were canceled connected Saturday, 9.7 percent connected Sunday and 5.7 percent connected Monday — the problems worsened astatine Southwest.

Southwest canceled 39 percent of its flights connected Saturday. The fig grew to 46 percent connected Sunday, 74 percent connected Monday and 64 percent connected Tuesday.

In total, astir 11,000 Southwest flights person been canceled since Thursday, according to FlightAware.

Pete Buttigieg, the proscription secretary, said successful an interrogation connected “NBC Nightly News” connected Tuesday that it was “an unacceptable situation” that would request a person look astatine Southwest’s scheduling system.

“We each recognize that you can’t power the weather,” helium said, adding that “this has intelligibly crossed the enactment from what is an uncontrollable upwind concern to thing that is the airline’s nonstop responsibility.”

Senator Maria Cantwell, seat of the Senate Commerce Committee, said successful a connection connected Tuesday that the committee would beryllium investigating the causes of the meltdown, and that “the problems astatine Southwest Airlines implicit the past respective days spell beyond weather.”

“Many airlines neglect to adequately pass with consumers during formation cancellations,” she said. “Consumers merit beardown protections, including an updated user refund rule.”

Southwest’s main executive, Bob Jordan, apologized to customers successful a video connected Tuesday night, saying that the “giant puzzle” of staffing could instrumentality days to solve.

“Our program for the adjacent fewer days is to alert a reduced docket and reposition our radical and planes,” Mr. Jordan said. “We’re making headway, and we’re optimistic to beryllium backmost connected way earlier adjacent week.”

The issues stem from the carrier’s unsocial “point to point” model, successful which planes thin to alert from destination to destination without returning to 1 oregon 2 main hubs. Most airlines travel a “hub and spoke” model, successful which planes typically instrumentality to a hub airdrome aft flying retired to different cities.

When atrocious upwind hits, hub-and-spoke airlines tin unopen down circumstantial routes and person plans successful spot to restart operations erstwhile the skies clear. But atrocious upwind tin scramble aggregate flights and routes successful a point-to-point model, leaving Southwest unit retired of presumption to resume mean operations.

It leaves passengers similar Ms. Parham scrambling to marque alternate plans, and sometimes incapable to bash so.

Ms. Parham planned to walk the days aft Christmas astatine Disney World with her household — a day acquisition to 1 of her sons and his wife, and a Christmas acquisition to her grandson. She flew from Atlanta to Baltimore to conscionable up with her eldest son, who does not similar to alert alone, past returned to Atlanta successful beforehand of a Christmas Day formation to Tampa.

Her younger lad and his household made it to Disney. Even her bags made it to Florida.

But her Sunday formation was canceled, and she spent Christmas Day astatine the airport. After waiting until 4:30 a.m. the adjacent day, she said she was told she’d beryllium placed connected a 6 a.m. flight. That formation was overbooked, and Ms. Parham became a standby passenger. The formation took disconnected with her bags, but without her. The adjacent formation was delayed, past canceled. Then different delay, and different cancellation. And the formation aft that? Canceled arsenic well.

“I request my makeup,” Ms. Parham said with a laugh.

Waiting successful enactment astatine the Atlanta airdrome connected Tuesday, Anthony Malloy, 63, of Queens, N.Y., said that helium would not beryllium capable to get connected a formation earlier Friday. He said helium had nary prime but to travel to the airdrome aft his Tuesday formation location was canceled, arsenic the Southwest lawsuit work enactment was disconnected and changes were unavailable online.

He was anxious to instrumentality home, arsenic his duplicate member was flying from California to conscionable him successful New York. Mr. Malloy arrived successful Atlanta a week agone to sojourn a friend.

“To deliberation this is the mode it has to extremity is truly debilitating,” helium said.

It was not Mr. Malloy’s archetypal disappointing travel with Southwest, arsenic helium was among thousands of passengers affected by delays and cancellations successful June 2021. At the time, helium spent $98 connected an Uber from a distant airdrome to get location to Queens and didn’t person his luggage for 3 days. As an apology, the hose provided him with a formation voucher, which helium utilized for his travel to Atlanta.

“Redeeming the voucher mightiness not person been specified a bully idea,” helium said.

Tanya Sichynsky reported from Atlanta, and Daniel Victor from London.