TURBULENT

Southwest Airlines Cancels 1,000+ Flights in One Weekend

Other airlines operating in the same area, however, did not have the same rate of cancelations.

Southwest Airlines customers’ travel plans were in shambles over the weekend as the airline was forced to cancel more than 1,000 flights, CNBC reported. Southwest blamed air-traffic control issues and bad weather for its 27-percent cut in regular flying schedules. “We experienced significant impact in the Florida airports [Friday] evening after an FAA-imposed air traffic management program was implemented due to weather and resulted in a large number of cancellations,” said Alan Kasher, the airline’s executive vice president overseeing daily flight operations. Other airlines, however, did not face the same cancellation rates as Southwest, leading to speculation about the airline’s alleged staffing shortages. Still, Southwest did not comment on whether such shortfalls contributed to this weekend’s issues. The company did apologize to its travelers, however: “We are working hard behind the scenes to minimize challenges and fully recover the operation as we take care of displaced Crews and Customers as quickly as possible.”