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Flight Cancelations

FrequentFLFlyer
Explorer C

Leave it to Southwest to jump the gun and cancel a 6 AM flight out of Hartford to FL on Tuesday when the real storm hasn't even begun yet!  Winds are not expected to be bad until later in the day. I have taken off on time with other airlines in the middle of snowstorms before, so without the wind, what's the big deal?

You have caused a lot of problems for a lot of people by being so conservative your wings squeak. Hope all you planes are safely tucked away way before the storm!

3 REPLIES 3

Re: Flight Cancelations

franktravel
Aviator B

Travel Advisory: Winter Weather posted on Southwest website over the weekend for customers with reservations to make changes for free.  Over six thousand flight cancelations..... Not just Southwest Airlines.  

 

Based on the forecasted weather conditions for the following cities, our scheduled service on Monday, March 13, through Wednesday, March 15, may be disrupted (flights may be delayed, diverted, and/or cancelled):

 

Akron/Canton (CAK) - March 14-15

Albany (ALB) - March 14-15

Baltimore (BWI) - March 14-15

Boston (BOS) - March 14-15

Buffalo (BUF) - March 14-15

Chicago (MDW) - March 13-14

Cleveland (CLE) - March 14-15

Des Moines (DSM) - March 13

Hartford (BDL) - March 14-15

Long Island/Islip (ISP) - March 14-15

Manchester (MHT) - March 14-15

Milwaukee (MKE) - March 13

Minneapolis/St. Paul (MSP) - March 13

New York (LaGuardia) (LGA) - March 14-15

New York/Newark (EWR) - March 14-15

Philadelphia (PHL) - March 14-15

Pittsburgh (PIT) - March 14-15

Portland, Maine (PWM) - March 14-15

Providence (PVD) - March 14-15

Rochester (ROC) - March 14-15

Washington, D.C. (Dulles) (IAD) - March 14-15

Washington, D.C. (Reagan National) (DCA) - March 14-15

 

Customers who are holding reservations on these days, and want to alter their travel plans may rebook in the original class of service or travel standby (within 14 days of their original date of travel between the original city-pairs and in accordance with our accommodation procedures) without paying any additional charge.

Customers who purchased their itinerary via Southwest.com or our mobile app are eligible to reschedule their travel plans online or from their mobile device.

Customers who did not purchase a ticket via Southwest.com can call 1-800-435-9792 to speak with a Customer Representative.

Customers in the U.S. scheduled to travel internationally must call 1-800-435-9792 to speak with a Customer Representative for assistance with rebooking.

If you are calling Southwest Airlines from one of our international cities, please reach us at:

Aruba: 011-297-588-2900

Bahamas: 1-855-202-3403 (English)

Bahamas: 1-855-202-3402 (Spanish)

Belize: 0-800-007-8684

Costa Rica: 0800-012-1916

Dominican Republic: 1-800-751-9039 (English)

Dominican Republic: 1-800-751-9038 (Spanish)

Jamaica: 1-800-425-8130 (English)

Jamaica: 1-800-425-8089 (Spanish)

Mexico: 01-800-083-1179 (English)

Mexico: 01-800-083-1178 (Spanish)

Additionally, Customers holding reservations for a flight that is cancelled may request a refund for an unused ticket/travel itinerary.

For specific flight information, please check flight status information.

Re: Flight Cancelations

DalTraveler
Explorer C

I concur. It is very frustrating for your flight on Wednesday to be cancelled on Sunday evening without waiting to see if the winter weather is as bad as predicted. It messes up family plans and makes you very angry especially when the snow fall wasn't even half of what was predicted. Also, the city you are in can clear snow and streets in a day. I have to spend extra money to stay in a city that is not my home.  All I was trying to do was spend time with my daughter and get back to my home town of Dallas to celebrate my birthday at home. I am normally a Southwest fan, but this whole ordeal has left a bad taste in my mouth.

Re: Flight Cancelations

chgoflyer
Aviator A

Unfortunately, for a number of reasons, Southwest just doesn't do well in IROPS.

 

They often cancel flights aggressively prior to the weather event, which may or may not turn out to be as significant as forecast, in an attempt to not strand their planes in affected areas, since their entire system is more affected but outages anywhere in the network. With a "point-to-point" system (vs "hub-and-spoke" of most other carriers), flights that are no where near affected areas can still be disrupted, since planes hopscotch across the country.

 

Also, their IT often fails, and phones systems aren't particularly adaptable to greater volume, which exacerbates the situation, and causes unnecessary extra stress for affected passengers.

 

It's not uncommon to have a Southwest flight cancelled due to weather, not be able to be re-accommodated for several days, then find a flight on another carrier to the same city within the same time period that's operating on schedule. 

 

While they obviously can't control the weather, one hopes they will actually address their IT and operational issues, instead of just issuing blanket apologies again and again. But, since this has been ongoing for many years now, once is not particularly optimistic.

 

This is the unfortunate reality of flying Southwest. They do many things right (no change fees, bags fly free, RR program) but IROPS is absolutely not one of those things.