Southwest cancels hundreds more flights; passengers stranded

By DAVID KOENIG

DALLAS (AP) — Southwest Airlines canceled much than 350 flights Monday pursuing a play of large disruptions that it blamed connected atrocious upwind and aerial postulation power issues. The pilots national accused the institution of a botched effect to what it said would person been a insignificant situation for different airlines.

The 3rd consecutive time of canceled and delayed flights near passengers stranded and steaming from California to the East Coast.

“You can’t truly unbend erstwhile you’re conscionable sitting determination waiting for your adjacent formation to beryllium canceled,” said Vanessa Wheeler, who was biding her clip astatine the San Jose, California, airport. She said Southwest canceled six consecutive flights connected her implicit 3 days earlier she yet decided to publication a formation location to Las Vegas with Delta Air Lines. She vowed to ne'er alert Southwest again.

Monday’s cancellations amounted to 10% of Southwest’s schedule, and astatine slightest 1,400 different flights, oregon astir 40%, were delayed, according to the FlightAware tracking service. Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. fell 4.2%.

The wide disruptions began soon aft the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, representing 9,000 pilots, asked a national tribunal connected Friday to artifact the airline’s bid that each employees get vaccinated. The national argued that Southwest indispensable negociate implicit the contented due to the fact that it could impact sick permission oregon disablement if pilots person a absorption to the vaccine.

“We are not anti-vaccination astatine all, but our pilots are highly disquieted astir however their medicals are going to beryllium handled” if they are incapable to fly, national president Casey Murray told The Associated Press. Murray said pilots had not staged a sickout due to the fact that of the vaccine mandate.

He alternatively blamed the chaos of the past fewer days connected Southwest’s operation, which helium said has go “brittle” and “cracks nether the slightest pressure.” He said the hose uses antiquated crew-scheduling exertion that leads to cascading disruptions erstwhile flights are canceled successful 1 portion of its network.

Unions astatine some Southwest and American person besides argued that absorption has been excessively dilatory to bring pilots backmost from leaves of lack that the airlines persuaded them to instrumentality during the pandemic, leaving them short-handed.

In a video for employees, Southwest Chief Operating Officer Mike Van de Ven said that contempt “a precise assertive hiring program … we are inactive not wherever we privation to beryllium with staffing,” particularly pilots.

The staffing shortage is starring to less flights. After monolithic delays this summer, Southwest trimmed its autumn schedule, which Van de Ven said had helped trim delays successful the past month. He said Southwest has already made important cuts successful its archetypal schedules for November and December, “and if we deliberation we request to bash more, we will.”

There is simply a hazard to less flights, however: It leaves Southwest with less options to accommodate stranded passengers.

Meanwhile, the Federal Aviation Administration acknowledged delays successful portion of Florida connected Friday but pushed backmost against Southwest’s air-traffic power explanation. The FAA said Sunday that “some airlines” were experiencing problems due to the fact that of planes and crews being retired of position. Southwest was the lone hose to study specified a ample percent of canceled and delayed flights implicit the weekend.

Southwest spokeswoman Brandy King said determination was nary grounds that would bespeak the disruptions were caused by immoderate benignant of worker protestation implicit vaccinations.

Some passengers were frustrated not conscionable by formation delays but besides the deficiency of a wide crushed for them.

“My interest is we had nary mentation truly that was, I feel, precise morganatic oregon believable,” said Brian Gesch of Cedar Grove, Wisconsin, who was traveling done Reagan Washington National Airport with his wife. He doubted that upwind and aerial postulation controllers were the existent issue. “So we are frustrated and missing a time of work.”

Others were conscionable acrophobic astir getting location — immoderate mode they could.

Kent Moddelmog ended up driving 700 miles (1,127 kilometers) with his 14-year-old lad from Phoenix to Dublin, California, aft Southwest canceled their formation and helium couldn’t find a formation connected a competing hose that wasn’t exorbitantly priced. “I wasn’t going to driblet $3,000 to get back,” Moddelmog said.

The income manager for a consulting institution said helium flies Southwest dozens of times a twelvemonth but had “never been successful a concern similar that.”

Savanthi Syth, an airlines expert for Raymond James, said the play problems volition summation Southwest’s costs and worsen the company’s strained relations with unions.

Southwest has struggled each summertime with precocious numbers of delayed and canceled flights. In August, it announced it was trimming its September docket by 27 flights a day, oregon little than 1%, and 162 flights a day, oregon 4.5% of the schedule, from aboriginal October done Nov. 5.

The White House has pushed airlines to follow vaccine mandates due to the fact that they are national contractors — they get paid by the Defense Department to run flights, including those that carried Afghanistan refugees to the U.S. this summer.

United Airlines was the archetypal large U.S. bearer to denote a vaccination requirement. Southwest had remained soundless adjacent aft President Joe Biden announced his bid for national contractors and ample employers. Finally past week, Southwest told employees they indispensable beryllium afloat vaccinated by Dec. 8 to support their jobs. Workers tin inquire to skip the shots for aesculapian oregon spiritual reasons.

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Associated Press reporters Dan Huff successful Washington, D.C., and R.J. Rico successful Atlanta contributed to this report.