Travelers stranded because Southwest is canceling hundreds of flights
Hundreds of passengers were stranded at LAX the day after Christmas after Southwest Airlines canceled all of its flights.
LOS ANGELES – The holiday season took an unfortunate turn for travelers stranded at LAX the day after Christmas. The travel pain comes as Southwest Airlines canceled more than 2,700 flights on Monday.
One of the travelers stuck at LAX, Doug, told FOX 11 that Southwest “wiped out any possibility of making a reservation by January 1st.” Doug and his family had planned to head to northern Idaho on Monday, but instead he is spending the day at the airport with his family.
No flights from LAX to Sea-Tac (SEA), New York (LGA) and San Francisco (SFO) are available on the Southwest Airlines website until December 31st.
The unfortunate traveler told FOX 11’s Laura Diaz Monday night that the earliest the airline could have done the rebooking was Dec. 31.
A screenshot taken on Monday, December 26th at 5:30 PM PT shows that all flights from LAX are not available for booking for travelers looking to fly to Atlanta.
RELATED: Why is Southwest Airlines canceling so many flights?
As of 3:30 p.m. Monday, LAX had seen more than 160 canceled flights and more than 250 delays. Southwest flights accounted for 103 cancellations and 30 delays in the same time period.
Southwest issued the following statement following the flight cancellations:
“As we experience back-to-back days of extreme winter weather across our network, the ongoing challenges are impacting our customers and employees in significant ways that are unacceptable.
And our sincere apologies for that are just beginning.
We are working with Safety at the forefront to quickly resolve the widespread disruption by rebalancing the airline and repositioning crews and our fleet to best serve everyone who plans to travel with us.
We were fully staffed and ready for the upcoming holiday weekend when severe weather swept across the continent, where Southwest is the largest carrier in 23 of the top 25 travel markets in the U.S. These operating conditions forced daily changes in our flight schedule of the volume and scope that still has the tools our teams are using to restore the airline to full capacity.
This safety-first work is intentional, ongoing, and necessary to return to normal reliability that minimizes last-minute inconvenience. We expect further changes to the already reduced number of flights as the New Year holiday travel season approaches. And we’re working to reach customers whose travel plans change with specific information and their available options.
Our staff and crews scheduled to work this holiday are showing up in all directions. We are extremely grateful for that. Our shared goal is to take care of each and every customer with the hospitality and heart we are known for.
On the other hand, we will work to make amends with those we have let down, including our employees.
The people of Southwest have a common goal of taking care of every single customer without going above maximum security. We are aware of the shortcoming and sincerely apologize.”
