NEW ORLEANS — It was another frustrating day of travel for some Southwest passengers. Monday, the airline canceled about 365 flights. That’s 10 percent of its schedule for the day, more than 600 others were delayed.
Nine flights were canceled in New Orleans.
This weekend, Southwest canceled nearly 2,000 flights. There were 52, mostly Southwest flights canceled at Armstrong International Airport on Saturday and Sunday.
Darryl and Kim Burton’s flight from Baltimore landed on time in New Orleans. But the Maryland couple is very concerned about the number of flight cancelations in recent days.
“It’s very unfortunate that many who use Southwest Airlines to find themselves in that predicament,” Darryl Burton said. “It’s very unfortunate.”
Margarita Castillio is a travel agent from California. She was in New Orleans to attend a funeral. Castillio says her son’s flight from Burbank to Sacramento was among the many cancelations this weekend.
“Very, very frustrating because we were both in separate cities, unable to get through to Southwest,” Castillio said. “I mean four and a half hours on hold is outrageous.”
Southwest says air traffic control and weather-related challenges caused the cancelations. But the FAA responded Sunday saying its staffing shortages ended Friday and that airlines are having challenges due to aircraft and crews being out of place.
Aviation expert Mike Boyd talked about labor shortages in the airline industry.
“We’re about 80% of where we were in 2019, overall,” Boyd said. “So, if it comes back even further, we may see this to be something that’s going to really constrict air transportation in the fourth quarter.”
Right in the middle of the busy Holiday travel season.
“You are concerned that people would not be able to get to their destination in time,” Burton said.
“I may have to think twice about flying Southwest,” Castillio said. “This is very, very frustrating.”
Southwest wasn’t the only airline that had some issues over the weekend. Allegiant and Spirit cancelled 5 and 4 percent of their flights, respectively according to flight tracker Flight Aware. American cancelled 2 percent of its flights.
Southwest's pilots’ union denied claims that its members were not reporting to work to protest the airline's vaccine mandate.