Southwest Airlines Axes Thousands of Flights on Holiday Weekend
Oct 11, 2021 By MarketDepth
Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) canceled over 2,000 flights on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The company blamed air traffic control problems, bad weather as well as limited staffing in Florida, according to CNN.
30% of Flights Canceled
Southwest had canceled about 30% of the flights it had scheduled on Sunday, with the disruption spilling over into Monday, with about 10% of flights canceled during the federal holiday. The company had canceled 808 flights on Saturday and 1124 on Sunday alone.
Southwest only Impacted
However, other airlines did not seem to suffer similar issues to Southwest and the FAA claimed that airlines are experiencing delays because of aircraft and crews being out of place. “Flight delays and cancellations occurred for a few hours Friday afternoon due to widespread severe weather, military training and limited staffing in one area of the Jacksonville Air Route Traffic Control Center,” the FAA said.
Reduction in Holiday Schedules
Southwest Airlines President Mike Van de Ven, told staff late Sunday that Southwest is still short-staffed, leaving travelers without much to go on. “We’ve already made significant reductions from our previously published November and December schedules, and if we think we need to do more, we will,” Van de Ven said, according to CNBC.
