Southwest Airlines cancelations, Milwaukee travelers still waiting
MILWAUKEE - The U.S. Department of Transportation said Tuesday it will look at whether nationwide Southwest Airlines flight cancelations were controllable – calling them "unacceptable" in a tweet.
What caused Southwest to cancel thousands of flights? The airline blamed winter weather for disrupting their operations.
"The cancelations just compiled one after another to a 100, to 150, to a thousand with those cancelations, and as a result, we end up with flight crews and airplanes that are out of place and not in the cities they need to be in to continue to run our operations," said Jay McVay, a spokesman for the airline. "That is ultimately exactly how we ended up where we are."
But both the Southwest pilots' union and the flight attendants' union blamed the airline's software.
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"With Winter Storm Elliott, our system got over tasked and the system we have could not handle the number of cancelations, changes and notifications that needed to go out," said Lyn Montgomery, president of Tranport Workers Union Local 556, which represents the Southwest flight attendants. "It created a huge impact and chaotic conditions for passengers and flight attendants across the nation for Southwest Airlines."
On Monday, a snaking line of travelers whose flights were canceled needed help. People at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport told FOX6 News they waited five hours in that line. Others were on hold for hours during phone calls to the airline. In addition, while people missed connections, their bags still arrived at the Milwaukee airport.
While those lines of stranded passengers dissipated Tuesday, the cancelations haven't. Southwest Airlines said it will continue running on a reduced scheduled, flying roughly one third of its schedule over the next several days. The company said that move is to recover its operations.
"I’ve been trying to get out of here since (Dec. 23)," said Kevin Nathaniel, a Milwaukee native flying to Atlanta to be with his daughter who is about to give birth.
Southwest Airlines flights canceled
Three canceled Southwest flights later, Nathaniel took a refund and went with Delta. He'll be spending more for the new flight – an extra $500, he said. For others, the costs of cancelation are smaller.
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"I just took a look at it and said, you know, they just canceled one flight. And there’s a lot of people trying to get out, and when you come down and look at the airports, they are packed, and almost all of these people are doing the same thing," said Walter Brown, whose flight home to Florida was canceled. "I figured out, I’ll give somebody else my seat, and I’ll drive. I’ll actually end up saving a little bit of money by driving, including the gas I need – if I can get a car."
Southwest Airlines at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport
Amid the questions about the cause of the canceled flights, passengers question what can be changed.
"I don’t have a clue, and apparently, neither do they," said Clem Grote, whose flight back home to Orlando from Wisconsin was canceled as he sat at the gate.
"Two pilots exited the plane. They were there, the plane was there, but the stewardesses were not there, so they could not fly," reported Clem.
Renaissance Books at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport
FOX6 asked the airline how many hotel rooms it booked for passengers, but they did not answer that question. VISIT Milwaukee said it does not track hotel bookings in real time, but will get the numbers in two weeks. Some hotels near the airport told FOX6 they noticed a few extra stranded passengers checking in.
Another place noticing an uptick is Renaissance Books, a used bookstore a floor above the Southwest ticketing area at Mitchell International Airport.
"It’s been fairly busy. We’ve had quite a few folks coming in," said Timothy Evans-Strum, who works at the bookstore. "A lot of them just want to browse around and kill some time, and we’re fine with that. And almost always, they come out with at least a book or two."
As the mystery of the delays confounds in real life, people are also turning to the fictional kind to pass the time.
"We’ve been getting a lot of stuff, particularly mysteries. I think there’s just something about a whodunit when you're riding in the plane, you want to get involved, and you get involved and just keep reading," said Evans-Strum.
Southwest called the problems "unacceptable" and offered "heartfelt apologies."