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By Ramishah Maruf, CNN Business
The long weekend was a bit longer for customers in the Southwest after the airline canceled more than 1,000 flights on Sunday. This represents about 27% of its daily operations. It’s the second day of massive cancellations by the world’s largest low-cost carrier.
The company blamed the cancellations on air traffic control issues and limited staff in Florida as well as bad weather. Southwest did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Sunday.
In a statement, the Federal Aviation Administration said there had been no air traffic-related cancellations since Friday. The agency said airlines are experiencing delays due to the movement of planes and crews.
“Flight delays and cancellations occurred for a few hours on Friday afternoon due to widespread extreme weather conditions, military training and limited personnel in an area of the Jacksonville air traffic control center.” , said the FAA.
However, other airlines did not appear to be as badly affected by these issues. American Airlines canceled 2% of its flights on Sunday, and budget Spirit Airlines also canceled 2%, according to FlightAware.
It’s a busy travel weekend because Monday is a federal holiday. Southwest canceled 808 flights on Saturday, stranding thousands of passengers across the country.
Marye Cory was scheduled to fly from Oklahoma City to Orlando on Sunday morning for a cruise. At 3 a.m., she saw that her flight had been canceled and spent more than eight hours on the phone with customer service.
Cory said she spent over $ 400 and used 20,000 credit card points on a United flight that will depart on the morning of her cruise. She also lost money on an AirBnb booked in Orlando and had to revamp childcare.
“I have flown with Southwest over 200 times and have always been very satisfied with their customer service,” said Cory. “I hope they will sort this out.”
Last week, the airline announced a vaccination warrant for employees, fueling speculation the weekend delays may have been caused by a pilot leaving.
“Southwest Airlines must join our industry peers in complying with the federal government’s COVID-19 vaccination directive,” Gary Kelly, chief executive officer of Southwest Airlines said in a statement. declaration. “I encourage all Southwest employees to comply with the federal directive as quickly as possible, because we value every individual and want to ensure job security for all.”
The Southwest Airlines Pilots Association claimed the cancellations were due to “management’s poor planning.” CNN has contacted SWAPA for comment.
“SWAPA is aware of the operational difficulties affecting Southwest Airlines today due to a number of issues, but we can say with certainty that our pilots are not participating in any official or unofficial action,” the union said in a statement. communicated. declaration.
Southwest has had a difficult year. The airline had the worst punctuality performance and the highest percentage of canceled flights from any of the country’s four major airlines in June and July, according to the flight tracking service Cirium. Passengers aren’t the only ones unhappy with Southwest: The pilots, flight attendants and mechanics unions have all complained about the airline’s operations.
Southwest has promised to fix the issues by scheduling fewer flights in autumn.
“To any Southwest customer whose trip with us did not meet their expectations this summer, we extend our sincere apologies,” said a statement from Kelly. “We are confident that these adjustments will create a more reliable travel experience. “
The-CNN-Wire
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CNN’s Chris Isidore contributed to this report.
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