(Boursier.com) — Clients of Southwest Airlines will have to take their troubles patiently. The main company affected by the historic storm that hit the United States over the Christmas weekend, the Dallas-based company said the ‘chaos’ should continue for at least a few more days. “In all likelihood, we’ll have another tough day tomorrow as we work our way through it,” chief executive Bob Jordan said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal on Monday night. “This is the most important event I have ever seen.”
Southwest plans to operate just over a third of its usual flight schedule in the coming days to allow crews to get into the right positions, the executive said, adding that the reduced flight plan could be extended. The Texas carrier canceled nearly 3,000 flights Monday and delayed hundreds more, disrupting more than 80% of its schedule as operational issues mounted in the wake of the storm.
While Southwest was responsible for nearly three-quarters of U.S. cancellations on Monday, the U.S. Department of Transportation said it was concerned about Southwest’s “unacceptable” rate of cancellations and delays, as well as reports of a lack of promptness in customer service.
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The most affected company
Southwest canceled almost 70% of its flights on Monday, according to ‘FlightAware’, after more than 48% on Sunday. On the other hand, Delta Air Lines, which cut 21% of its flights on Sunday, only had to cancel 8% on Monday. As ‘Bloomberg’ points out, unlike its major competitors such as Delta, which use their ‘hubs’ to transport passengers to major airports, Southwest focuses on point-to-point service. Additionally, Southwest is the largest carrier serving Buffalo, the urban area hardest hit by the storm.
Southwest apologized for the disruptions, saying the airline is fully staffed for the holidays, and 23 of its 25 major airports were affected by the storm. “After several consecutive days of extreme winter weather across our network, the continuing difficulties are having a significant and unacceptable impact on our customers and employees,” the airline said in a statement. She added that she was working “to urgently address large-scale disruptions by rebalancing the company and repositioning crews and our fleet to better serve everyone planning to travel with us.”
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