Funviralpark Litvak is just one of hundreds of thousands of Americans whose travel plans have been ruined in a meltdown of epic proportions as Southwest Airlines canceled thousands of flights across the country.
“It was terrible. I had never experienced anything like this before,” says Litvak. Litvak spent seven hours trying to rebook an airport customer in his service queue. She was eventually able to board a flight later in the day, but there was no one available to fly it because the crew was stranded in another city.
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – DECEMBER 26: Information boards are seen at Southwest Airlines counters. … [+]
“When Southwest announced that no one could fly until Thursday, I gave up and went home,” says the 26-year-old. Her international flight to Israel on Wednesday.
Southwest Airlines’ woes began after extreme winter weather conditions paralyzed much of the United States since late last week, stranded vacationers and created a ripple effect of disruption at airports across the country. ‘s social media posts showed historically long lines and piles of luggage.
As of 10:10 p.m. ET Monday, Southwest Airlines had canceled more than 2,900 flights in a single day, or 71% of flights, according to flight tracking website FlightAware. Since Thursday, Southwest Airlines has canceled more than 8,000 of his flights. This nightmare extends to Tuesday.
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – DECEMBER 26: Passengers line up at Southwest Airlines counters at San Francisco … [+]
Southwest Airlines CEO Bob Jordan told employees on Dec. 24 that the airline “has a lot of problems operating right now,” according to records obtained by CNN. He also said: We’ve had so many conversations about operational modernization and the need for it. ”
monday night, Posted by the Ministry of Transport on Twitter It said the situation was “unacceptable” and that it would look into the matter. The department will investigate whether the cancellation was controllable and whether Southwest is complying with its customer service plan. ”
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