Flying on Southwest Airlines this holiday has proven to be the experiences nightmares are made of. In addition to heartbreaking stories, travelers are now marking themselves “unsafe” from the airline, who they say have them stranded.
On Twitter, the owner of Chey Car shares gut wrenching stories from some of her passengers.
“This morning, a family flying from multiple cities around the country to meet in Orlando had a bunch of their flights canceled (mostly on WN/Southwest). The trip had been planned for a year so people and grandparents got in cars and started driving to Florida,” Chey adds.
Southwest Cancels 60 Percent Of Flights Day After Christmas
As of about 8:20 pm ET on Dec. 26, over two-thirds of all US flights canceled came from Southwest Airlines, according to the FlightAware Misery Map.
On Dec. 27, more than 60 percent of Southwest’s scheduled flights were canceled. It doesn’t look like there will be any relief on Southwest leading up to New Year’s Eve.
While there are delays and cancellations on all major U.S. airlines, Southwest has the worst luck with flight cancellations and delays, only scratching the surface of the carrier’s problems.
According to Simply Flying, Southwest has trouble managing baggage as customers take to social media to vent about misplaced baggage. Customers are also having a hard time getting in contact with customer service representatives to rebook flights.
The issues are expected to calm down the first week of the New Year – a long time to be stranded.
The Federal Aviation Administration Express Safety Concerns With Southwest
To make matters worse for Southwest, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has some serious concerns about how the airline’s oversight efforts are being handled.
The safety concerns were brought to light after the Wall Street Journal obtained internal FAA documents.
“About three-quarters of respondents said the culture in the FAA’s Dallas-area office that oversees Southwest hasn’t improved in recent years, after concerns had been raised regarding its oversight of the airline, according to an internal November survey report.
The documents show that some FAA employees questioned the office’s commitment to safety.
