Southwest airlines flights cancelled free#

Southwest Airlines, one of the most popular airlines due to its low-cost fares and flexible ticketing policy, had to apologize Monday for operational challenges causing long delays at LAX and other airports nationwide due to the winter storm. All the major airports saw similar issues.' 'The breadth of this particular winter storm really trickled down to just about everybody. 'The airlines are catching up with the major effects of this winter storm,' said Los Angeles International Airport spokesman Heath Montgomery. While Southern California's airports were especially hard hit, just about every airport could not escape the crunch. 26-An intense winter storm has caused a spate of flight cancellations and delays at airports nationwide and across Southern California, more so than expected during the bustling holiday season.

And that's the time they make their point.Īnd that's the time it could really cost you.Dec. When your whole brand is based on its sense of customer service, when you present yourself as the caring alternative - quite something for an airline - your need for humans to deliver on that promise is enormous.Īt some point, perhaps those humans realize just how much you need them. There's another aspect, though, that may be significant here. Moreover, if you know that your employer still has 1,000 fewer customer service employees than it needs, wouldn't you be tempted to hold out for a little more? What good is that if inflation is raging at 8% or 9%? I fear some may wish to hint at reasons for the sudden rejection of the contract. Especially as travelers are desperate for customer service and really aren't getting much of it from airlines currently.

Who wouldn't want raises, bonuses and overtime protections?Īnd when I say 'everyone is baffled,' neither the company nor the workers' own union seem to be clear about what's going on. It seems, you see, that those very same customer service employees have said (a definitive) no to the deal their union negotiated.Īs the Dallas Morning News reported, everyone is baffled. You already have the feeling, though, that I'm bringing you bad news. Stability, especially among the workforce, is an utter vital to a modern airline. Customer service employees had said (a tentative) yes to a new four-year contract. Now that we've mentioned people - an underrated commodity in today's economy - perhaps it's wise to consider that just as Southwest frantically tries to hire thousands, 20% of those thousands simply don't turn up on their first day at work.īut wait, I hear you cry, haven't the workers who are actually there just agreed to a new contract? It's not as if Southwest doesn't want to operate those flights, but it just doesn't have the people - or the planes - to fly them. But as Southwest announced all this, it became possible to forgive the airline for cancelling 20,000 flights between June and Labor Day.

Southwest airlines flights cancelled free#

Now there'll be more entertainment options, new 'self-service capabilities,' and even free iPads.Īctually, I may be entirely wrong about that last one. Yes, Southwest planes were always known for having no outlets and now, voilá, USB-A and USB-C ports. It's finally installing power ports, too. The airline is spending $2 billion on enhanced - and even free - wifi on its planes. Now for the really bad newsīusiness travel is (allegedly) back, and Southwest Airlines has finally committed itself to giving customers the basic technology they expect on a flight. Southwest Airlines has cancelled 20,000 flights.