The winter storm sweeping across the country left holiday travel in its wake. Dozens of airports canceled thousands of flights on Monday. That included hundreds of flights at Orlando International Airport. Spirit Airlines and Delta also had some cancellations, but Southwest was by far the worst. People there are trying to rebook flights after Southwest Airlines canceled their original plans. About 70 percent of the airline’s OIA flights were canceled Tuesday morning. These include flights to New Orleans, Nashville, Philadelphia and British Stone. Louis, and pretty much everywhere else across the country. On Monday night, Southwest Airlines issued a statement saying it was reducing flights. “As we continue our efforts to resume operations, we have decided to continue to reduce our flight schedule, flying approximately one-third of it over the next few days,” they said in a statement. Initiatives to clear the backlog of stranded passengers. But it also means that a lot of people there don’t know how they’re going to get there. It was seen as a move to clear a backlog of passengers stranded by flight cancellations over the past few days. WESH 2 saw people from all over the country at the airport. Southwest flights to places like Indianapolis, Chicago, Pittsburgh and Raleigh were canceled Tuesday morning, but a handful of flights to other destinations remained on time. Many passengers told WESH 2 that Southwest screwed up. On Monday night, the U.S. Department of Transportation also said it planned to investigate how Southwest Airlines responded to the winter storm and whether the company followed its customer service plan. Long lines and hundreds of delays and cancellations at Orlando International Airport Monday night left frustrated and anxious travelers trying to figure out what to do next. People waited hours for a solution. Kaci Osborne sat with her daughters Lilly and Laney. Her shirt read sarcastically: “It’s okay.” Osborne said: “It’s not good. We’re lucky we have family living here.” Their father, Stuart Osborne, waited in line on their behalf. “It’s only been about two hours, yeah. It’s been wrapped around there,” Stewart Osborne said. More than 230 flights were canceled during the MCO on Monday, according to flight tracking company FlightAware. They say this week’s weather and holidays are making it difficult for airlines to stick to schedules. “Lord, we are. Worst case scenario. Christmas. Are airlines going to voluntarily shut down over Christmas? No. They’re going to try to maintain those schedules that can’t happen in the kind of weather we’re having,” Kathleen Bangs, a spokeswoman for FlightAware, said. Airspace traffic congestion is another problem, as flight backups prevent crews and aircraft from transiting. “Once you get these delays, it becomes like this puzzle. You end up with the crew not where you need them. We see it all on social media. They have a plane, but you don’t have one.” crew members,” Bangs said. Back on the team, Eric Woods works to get his family back home in Atlanta. He felt more could be done to prepare for the weather he saw last week. “We all knew it was going to go bad a week before it got here. They could have kept the pilot. They could have had more crew members, but they still didn’t do anything,” Woods said. Southwest Airlines shared this statement with WESH 2 News: “With consecutive days of extreme winter weather across our network, ongoing challenges are impacting our customers and employees in unacceptably significant ways. Our heartfelt apologies for this have only just begun. “We are working with safety at the forefront to urgently address the widespread disruption by rebalancing the airline and repositioning cabin crew alongside our fleet, ultimately delivering the best possible service to everyone planning to travel with us. .We are fully staffed and ready for the upcoming holiday weekend. With severe weather sweeping across the continent, Southwest is the largest airline in 23 of the top 25 U.S. travel markets. These operating conditions force us to change daily. Flight schedules, the number and magnitude of which still have the tools our teams use to restore airlines to full capacity. This safety-first effort is intentional, ongoing, and necessary to return to normal reliability and it is Minimizing last-minute inconveniences. As the upcoming New Years holiday travel period approaches, we anticipate further changes to the already reduced number of flights. We are working hard to get in touch with those travel plans and will be updated as specific information and options become available. Customers who make a difference. The staff and crew we plan to work on this holiday show up in every way. We can’t thank you enough for that. Our common goal is to take care of every customer with the hospitality and love we are known for. On the other hand, We will strive to do the right thing for those who let us down, including our employees. There is no higher concern than ultimate safety, and the common goal of Southwesterners is to take good care of every customer. We recognize our own shortcomings, And sincerely apologize.”
The winter storm sweeping across the country left holiday travel in its wake.
Thousands of flights were canceled at dozens of airports on Monday.
That included hundreds of flights at Orlando International Airport.
Spirit Airlines and Delta had some cancellations, but Southwest was the worst.
People there are trying to rebook flights after Southwest canceled their original plans.
About 70 percent of the airline’s OIA flights were canceled Tuesday morning.
That includes flights to places like New Orleans, Nashville, Philadelphia and St. Louis. Louis, and pretty much everywhere else across the country.
On Monday night, Southwest Airlines issued a statement saying it was reducing flights.
“As we continue our efforts to resume operations, we have decided to continue to reduce our flight schedule, flying approximately one-third of our schedule over the next few days,” they said in a statement.
This is considered a move to clear the backlog of stranded passengers.
But it also means that a lot of people there don’t know how they’re going to get there.
It was seen as a move to clear a backlog of passengers stranded by flight cancellations over the past few days.
WESH 2 saw people from all over the country at the airport.
Southwest Airlines flights to Indianapolis, Chicago, Pittsburgh and Raleigh were canceled Tuesday morning, but some flights to other destinations remained on time.
Southwest screwed up, many passengers told WESH 2.
On Monday night, the U.S. Department of Transportation also said it planned to investigate how Southwest Airlines responded to the winter storm and whether the airline followed its customer service plan.
Long lines and hundreds of delays and cancellations Monday night at Orlando International Airport left frustrated and anxious travelers trying to figure out what to do next.
People wait hours for a solution.
Kaci Osborne sat with her daughters Lilly and Laney. Her shirt sarcastically read: “It’s okay.”
“It’s not good. We’re lucky we have family living here,” Osborne said.
Their father, Stuart Osborne, waited in line on their behalf.
“It’s only been about two hours, yeah. It’s been wrapped around there,” Stewart Osborne said.
More than 230 flights were canceled during the MCO on Monday, according to flight tracking company FlightAware.
They say this week’s weather and holidays are making it difficult for airlines to stick to schedules.
“Lord, we are. Worst case scenario. Christmas. Are airlines going to voluntarily shut down over Christmas? No. They’re going to try to maintain those schedules that can’t happen in the kind of weather we’re having,” Kathleen Bangs, a spokeswoman for FlightAware, said.
Airspace traffic congestion is another problem, as flight backups prevent crews and aircraft from transiting.
“Once you have these delays, it becomes like this puzzle. You end up with the crew not being where you need them. We see it all on social media. They have a plane, but you don’t have a crew personnel,” Bunce said.
Back in the queue, Eric Woods worked to get his family back home in Atlanta. He felt more could be done to prepare for last week’s weather.
“The week before it got here, we all knew it was going to be bad. They could have kept the pilot. They could have had more crew, but they still didn’t do anything,” Woods said.
Southwest Airlines shared this statement with WESH 2 News:
As consecutive days of extreme winter weather across our network pass, the ongoing challenges are impacting our customers and employees in unacceptably significant ways.
Our sincere apologies for this have only just begun.
“We are working with safety at the forefront to urgently address the widespread disruption by rebalancing the airline and repositioning cabin crew and our fleet to ultimately provide the best possible service for everyone planning to travel with us. .
When severe weather swept across the continent, we were fully staffed and ready for the upcoming holiday weekend, and Southwest Airlines was the largest airline in 23 of the top 25 U.S. travel markets. These operating conditions forced us to With massive daily changes to flight schedules and sizes, our teams still have the tools to restore the airline to full capacity.
This safety-first effort is intentional, ongoing, and necessary to restore normal reliability, minimizing last-minute inconveniences. As the upcoming New Year’s holiday travel period approaches, we expect more changes to the already reduced number of flights. We’re trying to reach customers whose travel plans change with specific information and available options.
The employees and crew we plan to work on this holiday season come in a variety of ways. We can’t thank you enough for that. Our common goal is to take care of each client with the hospitality and love we are known for.
On the other hand, we will try to make amends for those who let us down, including our employees.
There is no higher concern than ultimate safety, and the common goal of Southwest people is to take good care of every customer. We recognize our shortcomings and sincerely apologize. “