Post all SW questions concerns, etc. here...

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Other threads show JetBlue, Alaska Airlines and others having cancelations. It's not just SWA but SWA is having system outages affecting it big time. Remember this happens with other airlines both with weather and with system outages and it's happened recently too taking out airlines for days. No matter what it is the worst a person can have for their trip but it's not isolated to just one airline

 

[Toolulu22]

supposedly current issues due to “technical difficulties “ due their having delays and cancella from the weather and most of the flights this week have already been full due to spring breaks and Easter....so there are no flights to reschedule....but now I also have the issues with penalty fees and rescheduling with Disney...I really am frustrated with SWA as I’ve had issues with my last several flights with delays and cancellations but this is the worst eve!
And...I’m still holding!

Hopefully you’ve gotten through by now- but, if you are at the airport I would go there and try in person. Maybe someone else’s connection was cancelled and you can get on a flight today if you are in the right place at the time.

 

[EACarlson]

Ill take it one step further, its management maximizing “profits” with a system that has almost no flexibility built in for weather any more.

Airlines have plenty of planes, but as we see across the country, they do not want to pay the labor to fly them. They prefer to give that money to stock holders.

The entire companies flight schedile ahould not crash just because of weather on the other side of the country. But its what happens now everytime.

I had an 8 hour delay 2 months ago, on Delta at the Delta HUB….tones of planes just sitting around….no pilots to fly them, no crew to staff them. We essentially waited for a crew to fly in from another route to replace the crew that didn't make it from our connecting flight.
They just will not hire enough staff.

By "maximizing 'profits'" you mean limiting losses? In 2021 SWA lost 1.3 Billion dollars, there were no payments to stockholders, I know, I am one.

There may be planes but there are not pilots and flight crew to staff them. It was known that was going to be an issue when they convinced many of the pilots and flight attendants to take early retirement at the start of the pandemic.

 

[xipotec]

By "maximizing 'profits'" you mean limiting losses? In 2021 SWA lost 1.3 Billion dollars, there were no payments to stockholders, I know, I am one.

There may be planes but there are not pilots and flight crew to staff them. It was known that was going to be an issue when they convinced many of the pilots and flight attendants to take early retirement at the start of the pandemic.

am I suppose to feel sorry for SW? It was a pandemic. If the market is too tough for them to run thier business woth thier customers in mind, then they should fail and be replaced by a better airline.

Capitalism 101.

The government bailing them out with out tax dollars is not the answerz

 

[EACarlson]

am I suppose to feel sorry for SW? It was a pandemic. If the market is too tough for them to run thier business woth thier customers in mind, then they should fail and be replaced by a better airline.

Capitalism 101.

The government bailing them out with out tax dollars is not the answerz

I certainly didn't bring feelings into this, frankly I don't care how you feel about SW or just about any company other than mine. I stated facts of contributing factors to the operational difficulty SWA had yesterday. You opined that it was "maximizing profits." I pointed out that SWA had no profits and your response is to ask if you are supposed to feel sorry for SWA.

So are you in favor of Capitalism and the company should be allowed to make it's own choices and the market will settle it? Or are you in favor of demanding they run their business as you see fit "woth thier customers in mind?" I honestly can't tell.

Completely agree that there should have been no bailouts. Why is this relevant? No one mentioned bailouts.

 

[jkelly86]

Help! I’m still on hold with SWA it’s been over 5 hrs. Does anyone know any other way to contact them? There are no longer any flights available today or tomorrow showing online.

Hopefully your issue was resolved, and you have made it to FL today!

I just wanted to say that I'm not on FB but I did create a Twitter account simply to communicate with SWA during times like this. You can send them a personal message and customer service can often resolve your problem without waiting more than 30 minutes. HTH!

 

[SM1992]

We were one of the hundreds stuck at MCO yesterday. 5 different texts changing our flight time as well as gate change. Our plane was available but the crew for it was stuck on the runway waiting for a gate to open. Finally boarded an hour and 40 minutes late and got in line behind 19 other planes! Sat there for another 90 minutes
until we were cleared for take off. We were VERY lucky, at least we made it home, just a few hours later than expected.
The decision to do a system update on a spring break weekend was foolish to say the least.

 

[serenitynow]

Help! I’m still on hold with SWA it’s been over 5 hrs. Does anyone know any other way to contact them? There are no longer any flights available today or tomorrow showing online.

Try Twitter

 

[Tink3815]

We were one of the hundreds stuck at MCO yesterday. 5 different texts changing our flight time as well as gate change. Our plane was available but the crew for it was stuck on the runway waiting for a gate to open. Finally boarded an hour and 40 minutes late and got in line behind 19 other planes! Sat there for another 90 minutes
until we were cleared for take off. We were VERY lucky, at least we made it home, just a few hours later than expected.
The decision to do a system update on a spring break weekend was foolish to say the least.

We also were lucky to get out with only a 20 minute delay. Our flight was scheduled for 720 am. We normally take the last flight and thought of switching to later in the day. When I saw the weather report for the afternoon, I keep the first nonstop. Southwest is making some poor decisions regarding IT. They upgraded the RR system the night before the new schedule was released this past Wednesday.

 

[SM1992]

We were one of the hundreds stuck at MCO yesterday. 5 different texts changing our flight time as well as gate change. Our plane was available but the crew for it was stuck on the runway waiting for a gate to open. Finally boarded an hour and 40 minutes late and got in line behind 19 other planes! Sat there for another 90 minutes
until we were cleared for take off. We were VERY lucky, at least we made it home, just a few hours later than expected.
The decision to do a system update on a spring break weekend was foolish to say the least.

UPDATE: I was considering calling Southwest to see if they were offering anything because of our delay. Then an email came from them and we are getting two $100 credits for future travel!

 

[cmarsh31]

UPDATE: I was considering calling Southwest to see if they were offering anything because of our delay. Then an email came from them and we are getting two $100 credits for future travel!

I hope I hear from them soon. I was stuck in the mess on Friday, diverted to Raleigh, came in 3+ hours late to MCO.

 

[Lsdolphin]

So my SWA nightmare continues....i Had stayed at hotel nearby airport so I would be close for my 6:15 am flight this morning and as I reported I spent the rest of night on hold trying to reschedule my flight ....I did try via Twitter and website and received no help so finally I went over to the Fast Park and just took shuttle over to airport. I got in the line for the “Full Sevice” counter at 8:02am. And stayed in line until 10:50 am. There were only a few people behind the counters and a huge number of people in the line. There were no flights available at all today and nothing tomorrow the soonest flight I was able to get was Tuesday at 11:45 am arriving at MCO at 2:10 Pm. I live 2 hrs. and 45 minutes from the airport and already paid to stay at a nearby hotel last night. So I’m drove all the way home this afternoon and now have to drive all the way back early Tuesday morning. they did agree to change my return flight to add 2 days so I will still have the 6 nights at Disney but that was only after I insisted that it was due to them cancelling my flight and being unable to reschedule for me. I can’t understand how there is no real compensation for this mess when I’ve seen people being given vouchers and or refunds for far less! Meanwhile I then spent 2 hours on hold on the Disney AP phone line and while Imwas on phone I received a message that my room was not ready and on the message it gave the number of “front desk” I called that number and someone answered immediately and explained to me that because I had done the “online check-in” I was therefore automatically checked in and they couldn’t make changes to my reservation. I was hoping to change my checkin to Tuesday and add 2 days to end stay. I understand this mess certainly wasn’t Disney’s fault and Inreally didn’t expect a refund I was just hoping they could find a room for the extra 2 days. Anyway the front desk person was very calm and told me there were many guests calling with flight issues and specifically with SWA. She took my phone number and told me she was trying to reach out on my behalf to guest services. I received a phone call from a wonderful guest services cast member about 40 minutes later and they added the 2 days on to my reservation and changed the reservation from 4/3-4/9 to a new reservation for 4/5 to 4/11! Now I’m just praying that my flight actually takes off Tuesday morning despite new storm predictions.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

FWIW SWA did have the high cancellation but JetBlue, American Airlines, Spirit and Delta were hit hard this weekend.

A news story I read said for today SWA canceled about 400 flights but delayed almost 800 due to weather and the system outage. Yesterday was a really bad day for them with 520 flights canceled BUT it put it in perspective almost 500 of those flight cancelations occurred in Orlando (with the weather being a big issue in FL). The article said Miami, Tampa and Ft Lauderdale had flights from all carriers canceled yesterday.

Delta canceled almost 240 flights yesterday and while the news story didn't list the numbers it said 1/5th of Delta's flights yesterday were delayed. AA canceled over 360 yesterday but delayed over 620 as well. Today AA canceled over 250 flights and delayed over 230 flights. Spirit canceled 1/4th of its flights (representing just over 220 yesterday and almost 240 today). JetBlue canceled just over 160 flights yesterday but over 350 flights canceled today.

FL and NY airports listed as huge impacts due to weather (and then for SWA system issues as well).

It may seem like SWA is the only one out there experiencing issues and they def. are as far as a percentage of their flights on a daily basis but they are/were not the only airline with problems this weekend. It really stinks that a system issue had to be heaped onto a weather issue but in the past other airlines have had system issues taking them out for days and recovering for days too. It's so frustrating though.

I did learn in the news article that ATC (Air Traffic Control) reduced routes due to weather this weekend meaning the airlines had no choice (AA specifically said they were playing catch up due to that with that being a result of the weather), that the ATC themselves had the control not the airlines. I guess I didn't think about that, that it's not always the airlines sitting there making those decisions but of course that's who us the passengers only tend to think about.

I know a lot of numbers thrown out just wanted to put it in perspective. I would not have wanted to travel this weekend to the east coast and I'm so sorry for those stranded or unable to get to the east coast

 

[JoJoGirl]

So my SWA nightmare continues....i Had stayed at hotel nearby airport so I would be close for my 6:15 am flight this morning and as I reported I spent the rest of night on hold trying to reschedule my flight ....I did try via Twitter and website and received no help so finally I went over to the Fast Park and just took shuttle over to airport. I got in the line for the “Full Sevice” counter at 8:02am. And stayed in line until 10:50 am. There were only a few people behind the counters and a huge number of people in the line. There were no flights available at all today and nothing tomorrow the soonest flight I was able to get was Tuesday at 11:45 am arriving at MCO at 2:10 Pm. I live 2 hrs. and 45 minutes from the airport and already paid to stay at a nearby hotel last night. So I’m drove all the way home this afternoon and now have to drive all the way back early Tuesday morning. they did agree to change my return flight to add 2 days so I will still have the 6 nights at Disney but that was only after I insisted that it was due to them cancelling my flight and being unable to reschedule for me. I can’t understand how there is no real compensation for this mess when I’ve seen people being given vouchers and or refunds for far less! Meanwhile I then spent 2 hours on hold on the Disney AP phone line and while Imwas on phone I received a message that my room was not ready and on the message it gave the number of “front desk” I called that number and someone answered immediately and explained to me that because I had done the “online check-in” I was therefore automatically checked in and they couldn’t make changes to my reservation. I was hoping to change my checkin to Tuesday and add 2 days to end stay. I understand this mess certainly wasn’t Disney’s fault and Inreally didn’t expect a refund I was just hoping they could find a room for the extra 2 days. Anyway the front desk person was very calm and told me there were many guests calling with flight issues and specifically with SWA. She took my phone number and told me she was trying to reach out on my behalf to guest services. I received a phone call from a wonderful guest services cast member about 40 minutes later and they added the 2 days on to my reservation and changed the reservation from 4/3-4/9 to a new reservation for 4/5 to 4/11! Now I’m just praying that my flight actually takes off Tuesday morning despite new storm predictions.

I am so glad that Disney was able to change your resort reservation so you can get a full trip after everything you’ve been through!

FWIW, I was part of the big SNAFU two weeks ago and SW canceled my flight home with only a few hours notice. (Luckily I got rebooked onto the last flight that night that finally made it home at 4:30 am.) One or two days later I got the email from SW saying they were sending a $100 voucher to apologize. Hopefully you will receive something similar or better soon. That said, $100 doesn’t really compensate for your time and stress, but I’ve been in similar situations with other airlines and received nothing at all.

Fingers crossed that your flight on Tuesday goes smoothly and that you have a great trip!

 

[Lsdolphin]

I am so glad that Disney was able to change your resort reservation so you can get a full trip after everything you’ve been through!

FWIW, I was part of the big SNAFU two weeks ago and SW canceled my flight home with only a few hours notice. (Luckily I got rebooked onto the last flight that night that finally made it home at 4:30 am.) One or two days later I got the email from SW saying they were sending a $100 voucher to apologize. Hopefully you will receive something similar or better soon. That said, $100 doesn’t really compensate for your time and stress, but I’ve been in similar situations with other airlines and received nothing at all.

Fingers crossed that your flight on Tuesday goes smoothly and that you have a great trip!

thank you! I’m just grateful that I didn’t have to lose the $ spent for the 2 nights at Disney I’m missing and that hopefully I will be there on Tuesday. A voucher of some type from SWA would be nice but Im good with just getting on my flight Tues with no problem. Considering this issue was system wide with other airlines as well as SWA I see no purpose in sending nasty emails regardless of what I stated in earlier post about feeling due some compensation...

 

[disneyfan150]

thank you! I’m just grateful that I didn’t have to lose the $ spent for the 2 nights at Disney I’m missing and that hopefully I will be there on Tuesday. A voucher of some type from SWA would be nice but Im good with just getting on my flight Tues with no problem. Considering this issue was system wide with other airlines as well as SWA I see no purpose in sending nasty emails regardless of what I stated in earlier post about feeling due some compensation...

I am so sorry! Traveling is just so crazy, now. Your situation and others has me rethinking my August trip. We are only going for a couple days and booked SW. I am going change my plans to leave a day early. I am also going to book a back up fully refundable fare on another airline.

Fingers crossed that you make your flight on Tuesday and have a great time.

 

[scrappinginontario]

So my SWA nightmare continues....i Had stayed at hotel nearby airport so I would be close for my 6:15 am flight this morning and as I reported I spent the rest of night on hold trying to reschedule my flight ....I did try via Twitter and website and received no help so finally I went over to the Fast Park and just took shuttle over to airport. I got in the line for the “Full Sevice” counter at 8:02am. And stayed in line until 10:50 am. There were only a few people behind the counters and a huge number of people in the line. There were no flights available at all today and nothing tomorrow the soonest flight I was able to get was Tuesday at 11:45 am arriving at MCO at 2:10 Pm. I live 2 hrs. and 45 minutes from the airport and already paid to stay at a nearby hotel last night. So I’m drove all the way home this afternoon and now have to drive all the way back early Tuesday morning. they did agree to change my return flight to add 2 days so I will still have the 6 nights at Disney but that was only after I insisted that it was due to them cancelling my flight and being unable to reschedule for me. I can’t understand how there is no real compensation for this mess when I’ve seen people being given vouchers and or refunds for far less! Meanwhile I then spent 2 hours on hold on the Disney AP phone line and while Imwas on phone I received a message that my room was not ready and on the message it gave the number of “front desk” I called that number and someone answered immediately and explained to me that because I had done the “online check-in” I was therefore automatically checked in and they couldn’t make changes to my reservation. I was hoping to change my checkin to Tuesday and add 2 days to end stay. I understand this mess certainly wasn’t Disney’s fault and Inreally didn’t expect a refund I was just hoping they could find a room for the extra 2 days. Anyway the front desk person was very calm and told me there were many guests calling with flight issues and specifically with SWA. She took my phone number and told me she was trying to reach out on my behalf to guest services. I received a phone call from a wonderful guest services cast member about 40 minutes later and they added the 2 days on to my reservation and changed the reservation from 4/3-4/9 to a new reservation for 4/5 to 4/11! Now I’m just praying that my flight actually takes off Tuesday morning despite new storm predictions.

I’m sure you’ve thought of this but if you are staying longer you will want to book your park reservations ASAP as many are full/almost full depending on what type of tickets/AP you have.

 

[Avery&Todd]

so torn and I was hoping others could give me their thoughts...

we are headed back to Disney in October - flying out Oct 16th and back on Oct 21st from RDU...

I am currently booked for this 5:30am departure flight out of RDU which has a layover in BWI and we arrive in MCO at 10am...

or I can switch to this non-stop leaving RDU at 12:15pm and arriving at 1:55pm....


our arrival day is at least a partial park day but I'm trying to determine how important those 4 hours are to me of arriving at 10am vs. 2pm??

and if this was your arrival day which park would you do that day? We are staying at BLT and we'll be there 5 nights and will have 1 full park day per park so this partial day is a "bonus" park day AND I plan on getting tickets to whatever version of Halloween party there is...

Thoughts? and GO!

 

[Ohiostatefan606]

so torn and I was hoping others could give me their thoughts...

we are headed back to Disney in October - flying out Oct 16th and back on Oct 21st from RDU...

I am currently booked for this 5:30am departure flight out of RDU which has a layover in BWI and we arrive in MCO at 10am...

or I can switch to this non-stop leaving RDU at 12:15pm and arriving at 1:55pm....
View attachment 660120

our arrival day is at least a partial park day but I'm trying to determine how important those 4 hours are to me of arriving at 10am vs. 2pm??

and if this was your arrival day which park would you do that day? We are staying at BLT and we'll be there 5 nights and will have 1 full park day per park so this partial day is a "bonus" park day AND I plan on getting tickets to whatever version of Halloween party there is...

Thoughts? and GO!

The question you have to answer is, if you take the flight that goes to BWI. How many other flights from BWI to MCO are available that day if something happens to your flight.

I am all about the non-stop flight. One less thing that can go wrong. I also understand, wanting to get to MCO and get your vacation started.

I fly from Cleveland to MCO in January. Regardless of the airline, we go non-stop, too many weather variables that time of year. You are a bit safer with weather, than I am in January. I will say this year we took a non-stop from Cleveland at 6:00 am (on Frontier). We were up at 3, drove 1 hour to Cleveland, flight, rental, drive, change clothes, off to EPCOT, which we were in the park by 11:00 am. But you are dragging because you are up so early.

I would take the non-stop flight. I would probably monorail to EPCOT and get some drinks and dinner!

 

[Avery&Todd]

The question you have to answer is, if you take the flight that goes to BWI. How many other flights from BWI to MCO are available that day if something happens to your flight.

I am all about the non-stop flight. One less thing that can go wrong. I also understand, wanting to get to MCO and get your vacation started.

I fly from Cleveland to MCO in January. Regardless of the airline, we go non-stop, too many weather variables that time of year. You are a bit safer with weather, than I am in January. I will say this year we took a non-stop from Cleveland at 6:00 am (on Frontier). We were up at 3, drove 1 hour to Cleveland, flight, rental, drive, change clothes, off to EPCOT, which we were in the park by 11:00 am. But you are dragging because you are up so early.

I would take the non-stop flight. I would probably monorail to EPCOT and get some drinks and dinner!

I do like your reasoning here..and when the flights came out I asked DH what he preferred and of course he said "whatever you want" which means I booked the ones that would get us there the earliest!

but now I'm second guessing myself..

AND I like your thoughts on heading to Epcot - AND since we know that Guardian will be coming out before then perhaps we could ride Guardian that afternoon AND again on our full Epcot day..

hhmmm.....