Southwest Airlines canceled over 1,000 flights nationwide and left passengers stranded due to weather and air traffic control concerns.
Over the weekend, reports swirled of travelers being left to make other plans and fend for themselves in various airports as their flights were canceled without any promise of reassignment to another flight.
Southwest connected with social media to keep passengers apprised of the situation and explain the problems causing the need to cancel the flights.
ATC issues and disruptive weather have resulted in a high volume of cancellations throughout the weekend while we work to recover our operation. We appreciate your patience as we accommodate affected Customers, and Customer Service wait times are longer than usual. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/o1scQJ5lLb
— Southwest Airlines (@SouthwestAir) October 9, 2021
If your travel was affected, please explore self-service rebooking options by checking your flight status on https://t.co/GiF91yLJcx. (2/2)
— Southwest Airlines (@SouthwestAir) October 9, 2021
While Southwest blamed some of the cancelations on air traffic control problems, the Federal Aviation Administration said there were no ATC traffic shortages. Still, the weather had been a problem in getting planes off of the runway.
No FAA air traffic staffing shortages have been reported since Friday.
Flight delays & cancellations occurred for a few hours Friday PM due to widespread severe weather, military training, & limited staffing in one area of the Jacksonville en route center.
(1/2)— The FAA ✈️ (@FAANews) October 10, 2021
Some airlines continue to experience scheduling challenges due to aircraft and crews being out of place. (2/2)
— The FAA ✈️ (@FAANews) October 10, 2021
Although airlines nationwide have had some cancelations, Southwest has led the group. Some travelers were made aware of cancelations at inconvenient times, and by the time they arrived at the airport, the lines at ticket counters had several hour-long wait times.
By Monday, the number of cancelations had swelled to 2,000.
Southwest said a change in flight frequency caused this weekend’s problems and that they are working to straighten everything out and get stranded passengers to their destinations.
