NEW YORK — A massive storm has blanketed much of the U.S. with snow, slowing air travel during a peak season and causing tens of thousands of flight cancellations. The holiday meltdown at Southwest Airlines, however, has far eclipsed its competitors.
By Wednesday afternoon, the company had canceled more than 2,500 flights planned for the day, which amounted to 62% of the day's total, according to the flight tracking website FlightAware.
"This is a level of disruption we've never seen in this country before," Ross Feinstein, industry veteran and former director of operations communications at American Airlines, told ABC News."The numbers are staggering.""I'm truly sorry," Jordan said."Our network is highly complex and the operation of the airline counts on all the pieces, especially aircraft and crews remaining in motion to where they're planned to go.
"At an airline like American or United, for example, a plane may operate on a fairly narrow 'track,' traveling from its base hub to a variety of cities," Harteveldt said."That helps the airline 'compartmentalize' its operation when bad weather hits." In order to return to normal operations, the company said it would operate roughly one-third of its schedule over the next two days, as it resets its complex model of scheduling and coordinating trips. As of Wednesday, Southwest Airlines had canceled 58% of its flights scheduled for Thursday, FlightAware data showed.
Southwest Airlines CEO Bob Jordan affirmed such concerns in a message to employees, according to a memo obtained by CNN. The lack of adequate staffing has extended to the company's call centers, where customers face long wait times as they seek an alternative flight or a reimbursement.
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