Blaming air traffic control issues and bad weather, Southwest airlines canceled a slew of airlines over the weekend, making it frustrating for travelers in the US to get anywhere.
According to media reports, the airlines canceled the highest number of flights ever recorded in the US, by omitting 28% of its schedule- which amounted to a stipulated 1000 flights. What’s more is that following Southwest, Allegiant, and Spirit also canceled 5% and 4% of their flights on Sunday, while American Airlines canceled 2% of their flights.
Source: Digitpatrox (AP)
Announcing the cancellations on Twitter, Southwest wrote, “TC issues and disruptive weather have resulted in a high volume of cancellations throughout the weekend while we work to recover our operation. We appreciate your patience as we accommodate affected customers, and customer service wait times are longer than usual.”
Although Southwest did not comment on the reasons for the cancellations, an analysis was made by Henry H. Harteveltd, president and travel industry analyst at The Atmosphere Research Group. Hartveltd stated that Southwest has scheduled more flights than it could handle, since June 2021.
He also noted that Southwest operates what’s known as a point-to-point route network, and when a delay occurs, it “cascades” along with the remaining flight segments.
But most importantly, Harteveltd said that there is a likelihood that some pilots who oppose Southwest’s decision to mandate COVID-19 vaccinations are participating in an illegal job action where they call in sick or are engaging in a “work slowdown.”
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