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Southwest Airlines is now blaming Orlando for delays and cancelations

Southwest Airlines is now blaming Orlando for delays and cancelations


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It’s been a rough week for Southwest Airlines as it navigates the aftermath of canceling and delaying thousands of flights last weekend. From weather to mandates, Southwest Airlines is now blaming Orlando for the problems that arose.

Bumpy Turbulence for Southwest

Credit: Disney

This past weekend, disruptions in scheduled flights led to thousands of delays or cancelations for Southwest passengers. Stranded travelers and long lines at ticket counters led to outrage at the way the airline was handling the problem.

First, we were told bad weather was to blame. Then, it was disruptions in air traffic control and military training exercises. Some claimed it had to do with the recent vaccine mandate and pilots refusing to work.

It seems Southwest is sticking with the first excuse: bad weather – specifically bad weather in Orlando.

CEO Statement

Credit: Southwest

Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly went on air with Good Morning America to explain why the airline struggled and to offer an apology.

He states that half of the airlines’ flights were in Florida this past weekend, with Orlando being the hardest hit airport. He claims Orlando International Airport halted all flights for a total of 7 hours on Friday, which had a cascading effect on flights for the rest of the weekend.

Credit: Southwest

However, the FAA stated that is not the entire story. They did confirm that a 7 hour delay at Orlando did occur, but flights were not actually on the ground that long. They state the average delay for flights was only 1.5 hours.

Additionally, the FAA stated most airlines were able to recover by early Saturday morning with the exception of Southwest.

What’s the hold up?

Credit: Southwest

Put simply, the issues this past weekend with Southwest Airlines were likely caused by internal operational issues.

According to Capt. Casey Murray, president of the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, “Until the company makes some changes in how they’re doing business internally and scheduling our pilots, we’re going to continue to see the problem.”

Credit: Monica

It appears that the airline has since rebounded, which is good to hear considering it is now Thursday.

Do you think Orlando was to blame for the issues or were the cancelations related to internal operations? Join the conversation in the comments below and on Facebook.

Source: WFTV

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Sarah G

Saturday 16th of October 2021

The weather has been beautiful the past several weeks here in central Florida, the afternoon summer thunderstorms have decreased significantly, so “bad weather” is a ridiculous lie and excuse.

LISA J

Saturday 16th of October 2021

correct! I was there the whole week and it was gorgeous!!, one storm maybe an hour Thursday! I thought it was a joke when they said cancelled cause of weather!

LISA

Saturday 16th of October 2021

Yes I was in the southwest line, it was much worse than this picture!

Curtis Walker

Friday 15th of October 2021

We have flown with Southwest for years there have been great flights and some bumpy one's, the flight crew's have always been entertaining and funny, I'm thinking back on a flight to Las Vegas about 15 years ago when a food truck hit the side of a brand new plane that had to be repaired before we could fly and was delayed for 2.5 hours,was not a good day but we made it, must recently we flew from Bradley to Baltimore to Vegas and had two separate delays on both flights first one was an hour delay leaving Bradley second one was an hour delay 2-hour delay leaving Baltimore, and I've never heard so many excuses in my life as to why, the only good thing about the second flight is we had one of the brand new Max 8,s that was able to fly at a higher altitude and at a faster speed we were able to make up an hour of flight time which really helped unfortunately once again a little bumpy flight prevented flight service the entire flight and that's the third time that happened to us this year! Seems to be getting worse all the time

Carol Geiger

Friday 15th of October 2021

Southwest operations at Orlando are now and have been a disaster. The check-in process is ridiculous! I waited in line more than an hour last time I flew out of Orlando to check a bag and then my bag was misdirected and I had to go back to my destination airport to get my bag later as Southwest would not deliver. Am getting VERY disappointed in this airline lately and I fly them very frequently.

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