San Jose, Oakland see air travel collapse amid Southwest cancellations
On Tuesday morning, before the sun rose over the Bay Area, Tracy Hurst was battling torrential rains and howling winds on a 10-hour journey from Portland to rescue her mother. Ita M. Kelly, 78, was stranded at the Oakland airport for five days, left hanging by a full-blown meltdown at Southwest Airlines, and her daughter was not going to let her spend another night alone.
“I’m feeling blessed that we were able to get her because she was about to be in Oakland potentially to the December 31st,” Hurst said Tuesday morning on the tail-end of a whirlwind 20-hour drive. Kelly, who is diabetic and suffers from bad knees, was traveling from New Orleans when she landed in Oakland only to find out that her connector flight to Portland was canceled. That left her stuck in Oakland since Thursday without a credit card.
Hurst’s experience with Southwest is not out of the norm. While a massive Christmas-weekend storm devastated air travel across the country, Southwest’s woes have snowballed into a staggering collapse that triggered a probe by the U.S. Department of Transportation, which called the rate of cancellations “disproportionate and unacceptable.”
At Mineta San Jose International, Southwest canceled 152 flights – 76% of scheduled air travel – by Tuesday morning. Oakland International saw 57% of Southwest flights canceled. San Francisco International Airport also saw the majority of Southwest flights canceled, however, the airport is not a major hub for the Dallas-based airline.
Lines for customer service at San Jose airport. Southwest terminal 1. Both inside the terminal and customer service at baggage drop. In addition, your phone doesn’t work, I get dropped 4 hours after being in hold. Unacceptable. Canceled on 3 times. Supposed to leave on Christmas.
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