Southwest employees have more details on the airline’s catastrophic meltdown. As frustrations continue to build among employees with how the airline is handling nationwide cancellations and delays, upset employees are dishing out the details of what’s going on.
Thousands of travelers are stranded as the airline struggles to get a hold of the situation.
Phones are down and travelers are facing rebooking challenges. The only way for passengers to get a new flight is by braving the hours-long lines at the airport.
And to make matters worse, customers say they haven’t heard much from the leaders. CEO Bob Jordan recently announced the airline’s problems stem from “record bitter cold” temperatures. In addition, Jodran says staffing is a problem as employees are “out of position in dozens of locations.”
On the heels of wide-scale disruptions, we’re working diligently to Safely recover our operation & accommodate displaced Customers & Crews. We know this is unacceptable & sincerely apologize. If your travel was impacted, explore self-service options here: https://t.co/B6L8HR9Yqc pic.twitter.com/mLWndYMned
— Southwest Airlines (@SouthwestAir) December 28, 2022
The problem with Jordan’s statement, as many travelers and critics point out, other airlines are handling weather and staffing much better.
“If You’re Able To Find An Alternative, Do It” Employees Warn
As Southwest travelers search for answers, one employee appears to be giving better insight into what’s causing the airline’s meltdown.
In a Southwest Airlines Reddit, the employee starts by apologizing on behalf of the company.
“I will give it to you straight. This meltdown was caused entirely by Southwest,” the post continues. “It was triggered by the storm, but the failure to recover quickly is on Southwest 100%. If you are still hearing ‘weather’ almost a week after the storm, it’s not true.”
According to the user, the crew scheduling software is out of date.
“If we had better technology which eliminated the need for phone calls, this would have been fixed by now,” the alleged employee explains.
Currently, crews use a system that requires them to call in for their schedule. Southwest has an operation configuration that differs from the other major airlines, as The New York Times points out, which hasn’t allowed them to get the correct number of planes and crews back in the air.
As we previously reported, Southwest canceled or delayed more than half of their flights in the last several days, leaving customers stranded and struggling to rebook.
While the Reddit post is unofficial, there are dozens of comments from other alleged employees with similar accounts.
These employees are urging Southwest Airline customers to find alternatives if it’s not too late.
When Will Passengers See Relief?
There’s no clear answer on when the Dallas-based airline will return to normal. Several customers shared on social media they were told to rebook for after the new year.
What remains clear at this point is these problems from Southwest will last be felt for days.
“This is the worst round of cancellations for any single airline I can recall in a career of more than 20 years as an industry analyst,” Airline Expert Henry Harteveldt with Atmosphere Research Group told The New York Times.
