Southwest flight cancellation fiasco continues. Sacramento airport among most affected
Mass flight cancellations by Southwest Airlines continued nationwide on Wednesday, with Sacramento International Airport again one of the most heavily impacted in the U.S.
The airport’s website as of 8 a.m. showed that 49 of 60 (or 82%) Southwest’s planned Sacramento arrivals and departures through 12:30 p.m. were canceled.
Southwest by Wednesday morning had canceled more than 2,500 flights nationwide, or 62% of its planned schedule, according to flight tracking website Flight Aware. The airline canceled a similar percentage of its Tuesday flights. No other major U.S. domestic airline had canceled more than 5% of its Wednesday flights.
Flight Aware showed Sacramento International as having the second highest rate of cancellations (41%) among all U.S. airports for arrivals and third highest (40%) for departures. Southwest makes up roughly two-thirds of the Sacramento airport’s flight schedule.
The disruption follows an extreme winter storm that blasted the eastern two-thirds of the country starting last week and continuing into Christmas weekend.
Southwest in a Monday news release said it was “fully staffed and prepared for the approaching holiday weekend” but that mass cancellations were brought on by the winter storm. The airline in statements Monday and Tuesday said it would be “operating a reduced schedule by flying roughly one third of our schedule for the next several days.”
In another statement, sent to financial news outlet TheStreet, Southwest blamed its problem on a “scheduling issue.” The severe winter storm overwhelmed Southwest’s scheduling system for pilots and flight attendants, the airline said.
Southwest Airlines CEO Bob Jordan in a video statement posted Tuesday called the problem a “giant puzzle.”
“We’re focused on safely getting all of the pieces back into position to end this rolling struggle,” Jordan said.
As a result, air travelers returning from holiday voyages since the weekend have been forced to scramble for days, with travelers facing rental car and lodging shortages. Some have slept overnight in airports.
Emily and Colter Bergh, of Lake Placid, New York, and their three children landed in Sacramento on Tuesday, three days behind schedule. They were stranded for 30 hours in Chicago, Emily said.
“We lost four days of our five-day vacation,” she said Tuesday.
Southwest on its website says all customers who travel through Jan. 2 may rebook within 30 days of their original travel date without paying additional charges.
Federal, state government leaders weigh in
The U.S. Department of Transportation in a Monday statement called Southwest’s cancellation rates and extreme delays “unacceptable,” vowing to investigate.
President Joe Biden in a Tuesday tweet said his administration “is working to ensure airlines are held accountable.”
State leaders also spoke out.
“Airlines have lost the trust of the customers they are meant to serve,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta tweeted Tuesday. “We need more accountability and transparency in the airline industry.”
Travelers posted screenshots to social media showing some airlines, including American and United, charging exorbitant prices for flights amid the chaos. Some tickets cost more than $4,000 for a domestic flight in economy class, the screenshots showed.
California’s price gouging laws cannot be triggered without a formal emergency declaration.
This story was originally published December 28, 2022 at 8:45 AM.
