CHICAGO (WLS) — Holiday travelers continue to deal with flight delays and cancellations from a nearly week-long winter storm, especially those flying Southwest Airlines.
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Southwest had canceled an unprecedented 2,601 flights nationwide, or 64% of all their Monday flights, ABC News reported. Phone lines have crashed due to the sheer volume of calls.
Luggage has continued to pile up at Midway’s baggage claim, where hundreds of bags form a sea of luggage as far as the eye can see. But few are there to retrieve them. Bags are flying without their owners, and have been for days.
“Guess I should have just had a backpack ’cause now they’re telling me the flight got canceled because they said there’s not enough help, not enough stewardesses to manage a full flight. Now we’re trying to recover our luggage but they’re saying our luggage is going to the destination, to Raleigh Durham without us,” said John Ruh, whose flight was canceled.
“I left New Orleans two and a half days ago. Cancelled. Delayed. Cancelled. Delayed. Cancelled,” said Carolyn Irving, who was trying to find her bags. “Hopefully I can find my luggage because medication is in it. Gifts are in it. But you call, nobody’s picking up.”
Unlike other airlines, Southwest often flies point to point. Right now their planes are scattered in all the wrong places after last weeks’ winter storm, which impacted not just their Midway hub but Denver as well.
Southwest captain and union president Casey Murray told ABC News the situation was “catastrophic.”
“It’s been a failure at every level at Southwest. Our pilots, our front line employees have worked under enormous stress to try to get our passengers from A to B, but we were dealt a really bad hand as far as Southwest is concerned,” Murray said.
The flight attendant union also released a statement, saying in part, “Southwest Airlines has failed its employees once again, the result of years of refusal to modernize operations, notes TWU Local 556, the union of Southwest Airlines flight attendants. And this time, it’s on Christmas.”
Southwest issued a statement addressing the situation, writing in part, “We are still experiencing disruptions across our network as a result of Winter Storm Elliott’s lingering effects on the totality of our operation. With the weather now considerably more favorable, we continue work to stabilize and improve our operation.
“We are re-accommodating as many Customers as possible, based on available space, whose itineraries have been disrupted. Those whose flights have been canceled may request a full refund or receive a flight credit, which does not expire.”
But according to one industry expert, passengers today may be entitled to more than that.
“Make sure you save those receipts because you’re going to want to submit those to Southwest after the fact to see about getting your hotel, your meal, your taxi ride reimbursed, especially because it seems as though this is not a wave of cancellations that is weather-related the way it was earlier in the week,” said Scott Kelly of Scott’s Cheap Flights.
The lines to check your bag Monday morning were so long, Menda Speckels and her kids missed their flight back to Texas.
“We got here at 3:30 for a 5:20 flight. And the lines were just insane,” she said.
It’s been a nightmare for folks traveling over the Christmas holiday.
Hundreds of flights canceled each day out of O’Hare and Midway. Thousands, canceled or delayed nationwide.
And Monday is sadly no different.
“Got stuck here,” Ayana Ortiz said. “Flight got canceled so now we’re just hanging around waiting to see if they will re-book us.”
Ortiz woke up early, got here at 3:45 a.m. and found out their flight was cancelled.
“A little frustrating,” she said. “We chose the early flight in order to get back sooner and get in bed. But it didn’t turn out that way.”
Perhaps in worst shape, though, is Anna Kang. She’s been trying to fly to San Diego since Sunday afternoon out of O’Hare.
“Two flights got canceled,” she said. “I waited in line for about an hour and a half to book another flight at the other airport. So I went from O’Hare to Midway.”
Only to have her flight cancelled here at Midway Sunday night, too.
“We found that out at about 1 o’clock this morning,” Kang said. “So I’ve been up all night since yesterday. Here? Here. I’ve been here since yesterday around 8 p.m. last night.”
Hit particularly hard was Southwest Airlines. That’s evident at Midway, with Southwest seeing the longest lines at ticketing.
Frustrated passengers are now resorting to Plan B.
“So now we’re driving back to Austin,” Speckels said. “Seventeen hours. I was able to find a rental car. There was not many, but I was able to find one. So we’re going to start back here in a minute I guess. Because there were just no flights? No. None at all.”
The Chicago Department of Aviation released a statement saying, “At the Chicago Department of Aviation (CDA), the highest priority is to create a safe, secure and efficient environment for passengers and employees.
“With the support of Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot and CDA Commissioner Jamie L.Rhee, CDA staff, and partners at the airlines and the FAA, Chicago’s airports support increased passenger volume over the holiday travel period.
“Passengers should check flight status with their airline in advance of coming to the airports.”
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