Southwest Airlines Flight Question

[mamamary]

Hi. I posted this on the transportation forum but didn't receive any answers yet so hoping someone here can help. I have a question about my upcoming flight in a few weeks. I just happened to be checking to see if airfare changed and I proceeded to click on my flight number and I got a dropdown box that mentions % on time arrival is 60% and % cancellation is 40%. Does this mean that this flight gets cancelled 40% of the time? Gosh I hope not. Anyone know? Thx.

 

[Christine]

Hi. I posted this on the transportation forum but didn't receive any answers yet so hoping someone here can help. I have a question about my upcoming flight in a few weeks. I just happened to be checking to see if airfare changed and I proceeded to click on my flight number and I got a dropdown box that mentions % on time arrival is 60% and % cancellation is 40%. Does this mean that this flight gets cancelled 40% of the time? Gosh I hope not. Anyone know? Thx.

That's usually what those percentages mean. I've seen those before and I guess that's the statistics. 40% cancellation does seem high but it could mean a number of things such as Southwest cancels that flight and rebooks as another.

 

[mamamary]

That's usually what those percentages mean. I've seen those before and I guess that's the statistics. 40% cancellation does seem high but it could mean a number of things such as Southwest cancels that flight and rebooks as another.

Thx This has me a little nervous as it's our first trip to Disneyland and I don't want anything to go wrong.

 

[Christine]

Thx This has me a little nervous as it's our first trip to Disneyland and I don't want anything to go wrong.

As for customer service, you can't really beat Southwest. If you're flight is cancelled they will do their best to get you where you need to be (barring severe weather).

 

[clutter]

Could be that the equipment is usually a max 8. Those flights have been cancelled for a while. Check the equipment if your flight is after Jan 2.

 

[mamamary]

Could be that the equipment is usually a max 8. Those flights have been cancelled for a while. Check the equipment if your flight is after Jan 2.

Not a max 8. Our flight is in a few weeks.

 

[Klayfish]

As for customer service, you can't really beat Southwest. If you're flight is cancelled they will do their best to get you where you need to be (barring severe weather).

I would take the opposite view. Southwest is, by far, the worst airline out there IMO. Not surprised if I see a cancellation rate of 40%. I know there are plenty of people who love them, but I fly relatively frequently and will avoid using them if I can. Nothing but a mess.

 

[sonnyjane]

I would take the opposite view. Southwest is, by far, the worst airline out there IMO. Not surprised if I see a cancellation rate of 40%. I know there are plenty of people who love them, but I fly relatively frequently and will avoid using them if I can. Nothing but a mess.

Everyone will have their own experiences. Some of the things I love about them are things others don’t. With a few exceptions for places they don’t fly, I’ve been flying Southwest almost exclusively for the last 10 years and will continue to do so when possible. For the few times I have had delays, they automatically booked an alternative flight before I even called, have proactively issued me travel vouchers for the inconvenience (without any legal obligation to do so - only a two hour delay), even given me a candy bar because they knew one connection would be tight and I wouldn’t have time to grab a snack. Love them, but “your mileage may vary” haha.

 

[ajlsjl]

You are correct, the flight you're looking at is cancelled 40% of the time. However, I have to echo what previous posters have said. I've had flight delays on Southwest, one cancellation (the one and only time I've had a flight cancel was on Southwest), and they've gone way above and beyond in terms of customer service. I just got home on Wednesday from Florida, and had a 4 hour delay due to lightning storms in the area. Although they were under no obligation to do so, they issued a $200 voucher to everyone on board for the inconvenience. Delays/cancellations can happen on any airline, but Southwest does everything they can to avoid them, and will really take care of their customers when they arise.

 

[OKW8297]

I love Southwest. Now let me tell ya about American.......

 

[elphaba91]

I also wanted to chime in to say what great customer service we had from Southwest. We had a flight (well actually, several flights) from Orlando to New York cancelled due to weather. Southwest were fantastic about continually booking us on other flights. One flight was cancelled as we were on the Magic Express and I was on the verge of tears when we got to the airport but they were so lovely and so helpful. We ended up flying into an out of the way airport (Islip) and the rep even gave us directions for how to get from there into Manhattan.

 

[bcla]

Could be that the equipment is usually a max 8. Those flights have been cancelled for a while. Check the equipment if your flight is after Jan 2.

They should have already accounted for the grounding of all their 737 MAX equipment in their current schedules. They are scheduled to get some MAX 7 but of course the current issues are delaying the deliveries.

I thought that they cancelled some entire routes because of the groundings. They stopped completely flying out of EWR. They said it was due to poor financial results, but it was made easier because they needed to scrap several of their routes to make up for the lack of available equipment.

A lot is going into their new Hawaii service. I'm guessing that's a high priority for them and they'll make sure that route gets their highest priority for equipment.

 

[msjprincess]

As for customer service, you can't really beat Southwest. If you're flight is cancelled they will do their best to get you where you need to be (barring severe weather).

ITA

Last week my teenage daughter was flying home from Florida and had her flight canceled. The plane couldn't get to TPA because of bad weather. They got her another flight right away. It actually turned out better for us. She was originally flying into LGA. She ended up on a flight to ISP which is much closer to my house. It was a flight that we originally preferred but the price was 4 times as much as the LGA flight.

And I have to add that we've been flying SWA almost exclusively for over 10 years. This is the first time we have ever had a flight canceled. I think before this the most we've experienced is a delay of less than an hour.

 

[bcla]

ITA

Last week my teenage daughter was flying home from Florida and had her flight canceled. The plane couldn't get to TPA because of bad weather. They got her another flight right away. It actually turned out better for us. She was originally flying into LGA. She ended up on a flight to ISP which is much closer to my house. It was a flight that we originally preferred but the price was 4 times as much as the LGA flight.

And I have to add that we've been flying SWA almost exclusively for over 10 years. This is the first time we have ever had a flight canceled. I think before this the most we've experienced is a delay of less than an hour.

How would you have reacted if they offered a flight to EWR?

I've never had a flight cancelled, but I've certainly had delays. There was the Christmas of 2012 where there were just massive delays around the country. My WN flight to Vegas was late about 90 minutes, but my family's flight on another airline was delayed about 8 hours waiting from a plane from across the country. I was also stuck on a Southwest plane for about 90 minutes because they could start the engines. But I attribute that one to bad luck that could happen on any flight.

 

[msjprincess]

How would you have reacted if they offered a flight to EWR?

I've never had a flight cancelled, but I've certainly had delays. There was the Christmas of 2012 where there were just massive delays around the country. My WN flight to Vegas was late about 90 minutes, but my family's flight on another airline was delayed about 8 hours waiting from a plane from across the country. I was also stuck on a Southwest plane for about 90 minutes because they could start the engines. But I attribute that one to bad luck that could happen on any flight.

If that was the only option I would have picked her up at EWR. It was an evening flight so I knew there wouldn't be many options.

It must have been weather related. When I picked her up at ISP all of the arriving flights from Florida were delayed by 2 or more hours. So we were lucky she was able to get home at all.

 

[bcla]

If that was the only option I would have picked her up at EWR. It was an evening flight so I knew there wouldn't be many options.

It must have been weather related. When I picked her up at ISP all of the arriving flights from Florida were delayed by 2 or more hours. So we were lucky she was able to get home at all.

I'm still waiting for my first delay where a hotel night is offered. The closest I can was when I was in vacation in China and tons of flights were cancelled due to smog and because the Chinese military controls the airspace. We got a hotel room pretty cheap, and we were able to cancel and rebook a new flight rather easily. However, that was about $50 out of pocket, although it's different there in that prices don't really change and a last minute flight can be about as cheap as booking a month earlier.

 

[nkereina]

I would take the opposite view. Southwest is, by far, the worst airline out there IMO. Not surprised if I see a cancellation rate of 40%. I know there are plenty of people who love them, but I fly relatively frequently and will avoid using them if I can. Nothing but a mess.

What makes you say this? I don't hear many negative reviews of Southwest very often, so I'm genuinely curious. I fly Southwest frequently for business and leisure, and so far (knock on wood), I haven't even experienced a delay with them. I fly to and from Buffalo on nonstop flights and typically avoid winter travel, so they're pretty "basic" flights.

 

[Klayfish]

What makes you say this? I don't hear many negative reviews of Southwest very often, so I'm genuinely curious. I fly Southwest frequently for business and leisure, and so far (knock on wood), I haven't even experienced a delay with them. I fly to and from Buffalo on nonstop flights and typically avoid winter travel, so they're pretty "basic" flights.

On average, I do about 5-7 round trips per year over the past 15 or so years. So I'm not a complete road warrior, but have my share of flights. I've used all kinds of airlines, as I'm all about price, so the cheapest fare for the schedule I can make work wins (usually). My most common, and worst, delays are all with SW. One was 14 hours due to "mechanical issues". I realize those can happen, but it was miserable. Lots of unhappy people, including several in outright tears. They (SW) didn't seem all that great on getting people rerouted. Another was 4 hours, on and on. Yes, I've had many of their flights be on time, but they have the highest share of not on time flights. Add in the fact that I despise their seating model, and I don't find their flight attendants funny and it's just an airline I prefer not to fly if I can avoid. I've also had delays with other airlines (looking at you, JetBlue...though I still love you...LOL), but SW is just the pits all around for me. Having said that, sometimes they offer the lowest fare for the schedule I want/need so I gamble and hold my breath.

 

[aprilgail]

I would take the opposite view. Southwest is, by far, the worst airline out there IMO. Not surprised if I see a cancellation rate of 40%. I know there are plenty of people who love them, but I fly relatively frequently and will avoid using them if I can. Nothing but a mess.

I agree- I was trying to fly my mom and cousins to Florida for a relatives funeral and southwest delayed, delayed , delayed then cancelled their flight- luckily I quickly went to the jet blue website and got them a plane out 3 hours later- Last month my daughter was coming home from Florida and was supposed to get in late afternoon- they had their infamous "equipment trouble" and she didn't get home until after 11pm. JetBlue is my go to airline, never an issue when I fly them.

 

[msjprincess]

You are correct, the flight you're looking at is cancelled 40% of the time. However, I have to echo what previous posters have said. I've had flight delays on Southwest, one cancellation (the one and only time I've had a flight cancel was on Southwest), and they've gone way above and beyond in terms of customer service. I just got home on Wednesday from Florida, and had a 4 hour delay due to lightning storms in the area. Although they were under no obligation to do so, they issued a $200 voucher to everyone on board for the inconvenience. Delays/cancellations can happen on any airline, but Southwest does everything they can to avoid them, and will really take care of their customers when they arise.

That's the same day my daughter's flight from Florida was canceled. She got on another flight. She flew into a different airport and the new flight wasn't a non-stop. She was a little bummed that she lost her A28 boarding pass for a C10 boarding pass. LOL.

A voucher would have been nice. Oh well.