Southwest cancels more than 1K weekend flights; Las Vegas affected

NEW YORK — Southwest Airlines canceled hundreds of flights implicit the weekend, blaming the woes connected aerial postulation power issues and weather.

The hose canceled much than 1,000 flights, oregon 28% of its schedule, arsenic of Sunday afternoon, according to formation tracker FlightAware. That was the highest complaint by acold of the large U.S. airlines. Next successful enactment were Allegiant and Spirit, which had respectively canceled 5% and 4% of their flights connected Sunday, according to the formation tracker. American Airlines canceled 2% of its flights.

The wide cancellation has affected operations astatine McCarran International Airport successful Las Vegas, the airdrome said successful a Sunday tweet.

🚨SUNDAY ADVISORY🚨 Southwest passengers, delight cheque your formation presumption earlier heading to the airport. Explore self-service rebooking options astatine https://t.co/1YhqLQnQY7. Expect agelong lines and hold times astatine the airdrome arsenic hose squad members enactment to accomodate customers. https://t.co/8GPdvshjiC

— McCarran Airport (@LASairport) October 10, 2021

Southwest Airlines said successful an emailed connection that it had experienced upwind challenges successful its Florida airports astatine the opening of the weekend, which were compounded by unexpected aerial postulation power issues successful the aforesaid region. Those issues triggered delays and prompted important cancellations for the airlines opening Friday evening.

“We’ve continued diligent enactment passim the play to reset our cognition with a absorption connected getting craft and crews repositioned to instrumentality attraction of our customers,” said Southwest Airlines. “With less frequencies betwixt cities successful our existent schedule, recovering during operational challenges is much hard and prolonged.”

The institution said that it’s allowing customers to research self-service rebooking options connected Southwest.com, wherever they tin get updates connected the presumption of their travel.

However, Henry H. Harteveldt, president and question manufacture expert astatine The Atmosphere Research Group, based successful San Francisco, points to different causes for the cancellations.

First, helium says Southwest has scheduled much flights than it tin handle, a occupation that started successful June. He besides noted that Southwest operates what’s known arsenic a point-to-point way network, and erstwhile a hold occurs, it “cascades” on the remaining formation segments. That’s because, for example, a Southwest formation departing Fort Lauderdale, Florida, for the airline’s location basal of Dallas whitethorn marque aggregate stops on the way.

But Harteveldt says the astir troubling crushed is the likelihood that immoderate pilots who reason Southwest’s determination to mandate COVID-19 vaccinations are participating successful an amerciable occupation enactment wherever they telephone successful sick oregon are engaging successful a “work slowdown.”

In a connection Saturday, the airline’s aviator union, Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, said that’s not the case.

“SWAPA is alert of operational difficulties affecting Southwest Airlines contiguous owed to a fig of issues, but we tin accidental with assurance that our pilots are not participating successful immoderate authoritative oregon unofficial occupation actions,” it said.

Harteveldt noted Southwest’s woes could linger and impact its 4th fourth fiscal performance.

“All of this is happening arsenic radical are successful the midst of booking their Thanksgiving and Christmas/New Year vacation travel,” helium said. “It’s precise imaginable that immoderate radical who mightiness usually publication connected Southwest whitethorn spot this quality and take to alert different airlines.”