Southwest Airlines has completely melted down. They didn’t just cancel more flights than anyone else over the Christmas holiday – by a large measure – they’ve failed to recover their operation. They keep cancelling a majority of their flights.
The reasons for this are many. SWAPA, the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, has something to say.
China opens its borders, and welcomes visitors again, starting January 8. The only remaining Covid-era requirement will be to show a negative PCR test taken within 48 hours. That’s a wrap on Zero Covid, even for foreigners who were often blamed by China even though the virus almost certainly originated in or near Wuhan.
The country no longer pursues zero Covid, they just pursue a policy of no longer reporting most Covid cases.
Southwest has cancelled an unprecedented number of flights over the holidays in a complete operational meltdown. They lacked the staff needed to handle disruptions that may have been triggered, in part, by weather. But mostly they lacked the systems to recover. And they’re cancelling two thirds of their flights. Every. Single. Day.
Things got so bad in Phoenix that the airline made an announcement saying everyone waiting in long lines for help? Yeah, don’t bother. Everyone should just go home.
After a dreadful weekend of cancelled flights and cancelled Christmas plans for passengers, Southwest cancelled 70% of its flights on Monday. They threw in the towel – which would hopefully have given them time to put planes and people back in position and get employees legally required rest. Major disruptions take days to recover from because aircraft and people are left in cities that aren’t where they need to be.
However they have already cancelled 62% of Tuesday’s schedule, and 62% of Wednesday’s schedule. They may not operate more than a third of their flights through end of the year.
Southwest Airlines isn’t a niche carrier, for many years they’ve been the largest carrier of domestic airline passengers in the U.S. They may only be the fourth biggest airline, but that’s because their international route network is so limited.
So when Southwest melts down over Christmas, it’s a big deal. And even with Christmas over, the mess continues. Southwest has already cancelled a third of its flight systemwide again today. On Sunday they were closer to cancelling half. Scenes from their terminals have been brutal.
American Airlines has (4) levels of lounge at New York JFK, and it gets confusing for passengers. Part of it is that the lounge names don’t describe who has access, part of it is that the lounges are brand new, with three of them shared with British Airways now that BA has moved into the terminal.
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Flights continue to be cancelled nationwide, with more flights cancelled in the U.S. than anywhere else (even China) and more Southwest flights cancelled than any other airline.
Extreme winter weather is the proximate cause. In some cases this has been exacerbated by an airline’s ability to respond to that weather (sufficient staff and systems for recovery). Here’s the email that Southwest Airlines CEO Bob Jordan sent internally to employees on Christmas evening.
Overall the property – from Globalist recognition, to details in the room, to the club lounge – exceeded my expectations.
The Hyatt Regency JFK at Resorts World will be my new go-to for New York JFK airport overnights, and the cost of a roundtrip Uber will be worth it for the speed and convenience compared schlepping over to the shuttle pickup and then waiting for a hotel shuttle.
The Soho lounge is the equivalent of a British Airways First Class lounge – it’s not a true first class lounge. Long haul first class passengers have access to a different one (here, the Chelsea lounge). Instead it’s the oneworld emerald lounge, for top tier elites, a bit more exclusive than the business class lounge.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
