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"We need to be able to produce solutions faster," he wrote.Īirlines often cancel flights proactively during bad weather to avoid having planes, crews and customers out of place, problems that can make recovery from a storm more difficult.īut carriers also planned smaller schedules for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day compared with the days leading up to the holidays, making it harder for them to rebook travelers.After standing in line for two hours to get through TSA PreCheck, a system designed to expedite the Transportation Security Administration's screening process, Goldberg rushed to his gate, but his flight to New York already had boarded and the gate was empty. In a message to staff Sunday, Southwest's CEO Jordan said internal systems were partially to blame, and addressed the need to modernize and invest in crew scheduling. Both the pilots and flight attendant unions are in contract talks with the company. Southwest offered flight attendants working over the holiday extra pay. These are issues that you can't solve with holiday pay this is time and quality of life that we will never get back," Lyn Montgomery, president of the Transport Workers Union of America Local 556, said in a statement. "Our customers struggled with it just as our thousands of flight attendants did.
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Crews complained about being stranded and having to wait on hold with scheduling services. Some pilots and flight attendants were forced to sleep at airports because they were unable to find hotel rooms, their unions said. The agency said it will examine whether cancellations were controllable and whether Southwest is complying with its customer service plan and other federal regulations.ĭelta Air Lines, American Airlines, United Airlines, JetBlue Airways and Alaska Airlines were also affected by the weather, but had a smaller share of cancellations. Department of Transportation had also said it is "concerned by Southwest Airlines' disproportionate and unacceptable rate of cancellations and delays as well as the failure to properly support customers experiencing a cancellation or delay." But the company can start by fairly compensating passengers whose flights were canceled, including not only rebooked tickets, ticket refunds, and hotel, meal, and transportation reimbursement, but significant monetary compensation for the disruption to their holiday plans," they said in a statement. "For those travelers whose holidays have been ruined, there is no real way for Southwest to make this right. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., also called on the carrier to compensate travelers and noted that Southwest executives have acknowledged the mass cancellations were largely due to the failure of the airline's own internal systems. Consumers deserve strong protections, including an updated consumer refund rule," said Sen. Many airlines fail to adequately communicate with consumers during flight cancellations. The Committee will be looking into the causes of these disruptions and its impact to consumers. "The problems at Southwest Airlines over the last several days go beyond weather. Personal Loans for 670 Credit Score or Lower Personal Loans for 580 Credit Score or Lower Best Debt Consolidation Loans for Bad Credit
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