Did Southwest experience excessive delays like JetBlue last week?

[gigi1313]

here's my story... a co-worker was supposed to return to work from vacation on wednesday 2/14... she arrived back at her desk TODAY! said she was unable to get out of tampa on southwest for FIVE DAYS! (or more, if she was planning to be back at work on wednesday, she'd have to have flown in on tuesday... hmmmm...)

is there any way to check w/swa if they had flight cancellations on tues/wed/thurs/fri/sat and finally arrived home on sunday for work today (yesterday was a holiday)...

what say all of you? i don't care that she took an extra week but i HATE being lied to!

 

[gigi1313]

::bumpin::

 

[Lewisc]

Almost all flights were cancelled on 2/14 and some were cancelled on 2/15. I know all flights from ISP to Florida (all ciities) were overbooked through Monday and I believe the flights coming N weren't much better. Some of the later flights may have been cancelled on 2/13

The flights were running but it's probable your co-worker was unable to get reservation any earlier. With the Jet Blue problems there were probably far more standby passengers than could be accomodated.

here's my story... a co-worker was supposed to return to work from vacation on wednesday 2/14... she arrived back at her desk TODAY! said she was unable to get out of tampa on southwest for FIVE DAYS! (or more, if she was planning to be back at work on wednesday, she'd have to have flown in on tuesday... hmmmm...)

is there any way to check w/swa if they had flight cancellations on tues/wed/thurs/fri/sat and finally arrived home on sunday for work today (yesterday was a holiday)...

what say all of you? i don't care that she took an extra week but i HATE being lied to!

 

[gigi1313]

thanks for your response... i truly hope she's not lying... i find it interesting though 'cause so many people were reporting that JB left them stranded so they ponied up the cash and flew SWA... would SWA put a JB stand-by pax ahead of a SWA stand-by pax?

 

[pamjb]

DH's Aunt was supposed to fly from MCO to PHL on 2/13. First there was an hour delay, than 2 hrs, than 3 hrs, then it was leaving on time. Finally it was cancelled. She opted to stay until 2/15, since 2/14 didn't loook like it was going to be any better of a travel day. She was on the 3 pm flight from MCO, she finally left MCO about 6 pm, and arrived back in PHL at 8:45-ish.

I didn't hear of any delays like JetBlue had. I am sure they would have been reported on the news like the JB saga has been.

 

[bavaria]

Remember too that SW will put a traveller on the next flight with space available - which may be days away. From what I read here, their overbooking and cancellation rates are far lower than legacy carriers, due to their business model.

Last week I was trying to stand by for a United flight that was oversold by 25 seats; they were trying to find volunteers to take a later flight. Yet 30 minutes later I had my standby come through and found myself in a business class seat on my way.

SW may legitimately not have had an available seat to the final destination until days later, and many travellers don't know about standby so don't even go that option. They take what they are given and don't realize that they can try and make changes.

So, yes, I could believe your coworker - if she really tried, she may have arrived home earlier, but she may truly have been offered that late flight.

 

[dopeyfanatic]

I don't think there were any delays THAT long. I can see one day, maybe two if the other flights were booked up. But 5 days? Seems like maybe she just decided to stay a little while since she was delayed anyway. I think delays that long we would have heard about...

 

[Lewisc]

Like I said I was in the airport on 2/14 and 2/15. Every flight from NY to all Florida cities were booked (overbooked) through Monday. The situation coming N wasn't much better.

SW was running their flights from 2/15. The fact that the flights were fully booked, during a holiday weekend, really isn't newsworthy. Jet Blue was a much better story than SW's flights leaving as scheduled, full.

I don't think there were any delays THAT long. I can see one day, maybe two if the other flights were booked up. But 5 days? Seems like maybe she just decided to stay a little while since she was delayed anyway. I think delays that long we would have heard about...

 

[CarolA]

Well I just cruised flyertalk.com which is normally a good source for "horror' Stories..... didn't see any. As a matter of fact there are posts on SW putting on "special" flights to get folks back home. (In other words they added a few flights to get things back to normal)

What occurs to me is that the flight was cancelled and there may have been some "advantage" delays. If your Co-worker isn't upset then I would be curious. (I once got delayed in Europe and took advantage to add two days. However I did tell my boss that there was a good chance I could have gotten home earlier I chose to take a "guranteed" seat vs. standby)


I am with the OP. I am a little suspicious of the five day delay on SW, especially considering thier reputation and the fact that they have several airports in close proximity to help them deal with the overflow. (SW has bussed to airports in the past)

From what I am reading one of the BIG differences between SW and JetBlue was a plan and the fact that thier employees are more empowered to get things right (ie paying to transport you to MCO or RSW if Tampa is booked)

 

[leslieh]

We were stuck in LAS VEGAS for an extra day due to weather conditions on the east coast that was terrible. When I called SW tuesday night they had cancelled all flights to BWI for Wed. the rep just put us on the next day same flight etc. We got to LAS 1.5 before flight, security was backed up over 800 people, as we rounded the gate they were boarding A's. Close call
When i got home and read that you could postpone your return up to 14 days with no charge on the same itenary, I could have stayed a few days more like your friend But I was in Vegas and was running out of money!!!!

 

[dopeyfanatic]

Like I said I was in the airport on 2/14 and 2/15. Every flight from NY to all Florida cities were booked (overbooked) through Monday. The situation coming N wasn't much better.

SW was running their flights from 2/15. The fact that the flights were fully booked, during a holiday weekend, really isn't newsworthy. Jet Blue was a much better story than SW's flights leaving as scheduled, full.

I wasn't saying that the flight wasn't cancelled, but that I highly doubt that SW of all airlines would make someone wait 5 days to get them home before trying to put them on another airline if they had to. I have a feeling that they didn't have anything available for a day or two and she didn't want to bother trying standby, so she just added a few days on for a flight she knew she could get and weather didn't appear to interfere with....

 

[gigi1313]

okay, so i won't leave only the dregs of the coffee pot tomorrow but rather make a fresh pot for her... she may have been truthful... thanks for all the responses...

it's likely that the airline said a day or two and she figured she's there, she might as well stay five since she was going to miss work anyway... i probably would have done the same thing (minus the likely stretching of the truth)...

 

[NotUrsula]

My guess would be that her original flight was canceled due to weather, and she chose to insist on a confirmed scheduled spot rather than accepting a standby, which would make a certain amount of sense to me if I were travelling with a child and could do it without fear of getting fired.

If you are standby you have to go to the airport every day and stay near the gate in case a seat becomes available. That might take days when weather happens over a holiday weekend, and there is no guarantee that you can get multiple seats on the same flight. Lots of people who have kids with them won't mess with it if they can wait out the crisis and take a later confirmed seat.

 

[canwegosoon]

Look at it this was ...five more days she can't take vacation for the rest of the year..and let it go.

 

[Lewisc]

SW doesn't do interline bookings, particularly for weather delays. They didn't have anything available to any Florida city through Monday I was at the airport 2/14 and 2/15 plus checked the website. My understanding is the flights North were similarly booked.
I'll agree the passenger might have been able to get out earlier if she had spent 3 days in the airport trying standby. My guess is when she finally go through on the 800 she booked the earliest flight that was available.

For the posters suggesting standby. The flights on 2/15 were overbooked before the storm. Most of the standy seats went to passengers that were bumped (voluntary or involuntary) from earlier flights. Those passengers are put on the top the standby list.

I'm sure NotUrsula has it right. The person booked the first available flight and extended their vacation.

I wasn't saying that the flight wasn't cancelled, but that I highly doubt that SW of all airlines would make someone wait 5 days to get them home before trying to put them on another airline if they had to. I have a feeling that they didn't have anything available for a day or two and she didn't want to bother trying standby, so she just added a few days on for a flight she knew she could get and weather didn't appear to interfere with....

 

[bicker]

I think another reason why there wasn't much attention paid to this is that the expectations regarding Southwest service are lower to start with, as prompted by the fact they don't provide seat assignments, etc.

 

[Lewisc]

I think another reason why there wasn't much attention paid to this is that the expectations regarding Southwest service are lower to start with, as prompted by the fact they don't provide seat assignments, etc.

Jet Blue was a much better story. Passengers being "held hostage" on the tarmac. Flight cancellations almost a week after the storm.

SW returned to normal operations on 2/15, they didn't have enough empty seats to quickly accommodate the displaced passengers. Just not that good a story.

 

[bg4]

I think another reason why there wasn't much attention paid to this is that the expectations regarding Southwest service are lower to start with, as prompted by the fact they don't provide seat assignments, etc.

Also dont fly out of JFK so no CNN-Fox News-MSNBC (ok you can skip that one)
and No NYC TV stations at Islip.

Islip is also a much smaller and often forgotten airport and most likely SWA was not on TV stations radar - kinda going back to lower expectations. There are some that dont regard SWA as a real airline or Islip as a real airport but both are just not true.

 

[dopeyfanatic]

SW doesn't do interline bookings, particularly for weather delays. They didn't have anything available to any Florida city through Monday I was at the airport 2/14 and 2/15 plus checked the website. My understanding is the flights North were similarly booked.
I'll agree the passenger might have been able to get out earlier if she had spent 3 days in the airport trying standby. My guess is when she finally go through on the 800 she booked the earliest flight that was available.

For the posters suggesting standby. The flights on 2/15 were overbooked before the storm. Most of the standy seats went to passengers that were bumped (voluntary or involuntary) from earlier flights. Those passengers are put on the top the standby list.

I'm sure NotUrsula has it right. The person booked the first available flight and extended their vacation.

I'm not sure why I'm being quoted again. We're basically saying the same thing. I agree that she probably booked for a time when she knew she could get a flight and wouldn't be possibly cancelled again due to weather. However I have read from other people that they got on standby flights during that time even though flights were over booked, and I also have read about people who took Southwest and got a refund due to cancellations and went on another airline. I think there were more options she could have tried, she just didn't want to. I wouldn't want to sit in the airport all day either.

To the OP- Is it possible that they didn't give her the extra vacation days since it wasn' tpre-approved. They might have made her take them without pay.

 

[Tammy32]

For those who don't think Southwest Airlines is a real airline:

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

Southwest Airlines, Inc. (NYSE: LUV) is a low fare airline based in Dallas, Texas. It is the largest airline in the United States by number of passengers carried domestically for any one year and the third largest airline in the world by number of passengers carried. Southwest Airlines carried more customers than any other U.S. airline in August 2006, marking it the first time that Southwest Airlines has topped the monthly list for combined domestic and international passengers, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics. [1] Southwest Airlines is one of the industry's most profitable airlines and in January 2007, posted a profit for the 34th consecutive year. [2]Its reputation for low prices and a laid-back atmosphere have made it an icon of pop culture.