Massive Southwest Airlines disruption leaves customers stranded, call centers swamped

Video above: Flight delays not done as holiday travelers try to make their way homeLast week’s winter weather travel mess is lingering like a vicious hangover into this week — and the headaches are migraine-proportioned for Southwest Airlines, its CEO Bob Jordan and most of all its frustrated passengers on Monday.Almost 3,700 flights within, into or out of the U.S. had already been canceled by 5:20 p.m. ET Monday, according to flight tracking website FlightAware, while more than 6,400 flights had been delayed.But Southwest accounts for a whopping share of those. None of the other U.S. carriers have canceled nearly as many flights or as much of their schedule as Southwest.The Dallas-based airline had canceled roughly two-thirds of its flights — more than 2,700 total — as of 5:20 p.m. Monday, according to FlightAware.At one point, it canceled around 300 flights in the span of a half-hour Monday afternoon.CEO: ‘A lot of issues in the operation’On Christmas night, ahead of Monday’s meltdown, Jordan told employees the airline has “a lot of issues in the operation right now.”CNN was provided a transcript of the message to Southwest employees by an aviation source.Jordan told employees, “Part of what we’re suffering is a lack of tools. We’ve talked an awful lot about modernizing the operation, and the need to do that.On social media, customers are complaining loudly about long lines to speak with representatives, problems with lost bags and excessive wait times or busy signals on the airline’s customer service telephone lines.CNN’s Carlos Suarez spoke with frustrated passengers in line at the Southwest ticket counter at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Monday.He’s reported that about 150 customers were waiting in a long line at one point to rebook, with the line snaking around the back of the ticket counter.Video below: Some travelers keep positivity amid long lines at BWI-Marshall’Disruptions across our network’Southwest responded to the massive cancellations in an emailed statement Monday afternoon:”With consecutive days of extreme winter weather across our network behind us, continuing challenges are impacting our Customers and Employees in a significant way that is unacceptable,” the statement read.”We’re working with Safety at the forefront to urgently address wide-scale disruption. … On the other side of this, we’ll work to make things right for those we’ve let down, including our Employees.”In an earlier statement to CNN on Monday, Southwest Airlines said it is “experiencing disruptions across our network as a result of (the winter storm’s) lingering effects on the totality of our operation.”Some of the airports seeing the biggest issues are Denver, Las Vegas, Chicago Midway, Baltimore/Washington, Dallas Love Field and Phoenix Sky Harbor.Calls made by CNN to Southwest’s customer service did not go through, so customers couldn’t even get in the queue to speak to a representative. Southwest told CNN it is “fully staffed to answer calls.”The airline also says, “those whose flights have been canceled may request a full refund or receive a flight credit, which does not expire.”A tweet from Southwest directing customers to self-service options had more than 870 replies — many of them angry — around 4:30 p.m. ET.One of the replies in part read: “Stop blaming the WEATHER! Had to buy a first class ticket on another airline but it TOOK OFF ON TIME! You still have our luggage with medication inside! Can’t get through on the phone!”Video below: Rossen Reports: Winter travel tricks as snow cancels flightsRipple effects at SouthwestIn the Sunday night message to employees, Jordan said, “We need to be able to produce solutions faster.” He said the airline is “committed to and invested in” improving its systems.The president of the union that represents Southwest’s flight attendants told CNN’s Pamela Brown in an on-air interview Monday that those systems have left its members stranded.”The phone system the company uses is just not working. They’re just not manned with enough manpower in order to give the scheduling changes to flight attendants, and that’s created a ripple effect that is creating chaos throughout the nation,” Lyn Montgomery, president of TWU Local 556, told CNN.Montgomery said some flight attendants needed to sleep in airports as a result.Kathleen Bangs, a FlightAware spokesperson, also in an on-air interview, said that Southwest’s schedule includes shorter flights with tighter turnaround times that are causing some of the problems. “Those turnaround times bog things down,” Bangs said.CNN has reached out to the airline for comment on Jordan’s video message.What can stranded passengers do?If you’ve been left in the lurch and your efforts to reach a customer service agent are going nowhere, the founder of Scott’s Cheap Flights suggests trying an international number.”The main hotline for US airlines will be clogged with other passengers getting rebooked. To get through to an agent quickly, call any one of the airline’s dozens of international offices” Scott Keyes said.”Agents can handle your reservation just like US-based ones can, but there’s virtually no wait to get through.”Click here to get international numbers that Southwest has previously posted.Any relief in sight?It could be next week before this is all completely sorted out.”When there’s more than 10,000 flight cancellations over the past week, it takes time for airlines to work through and reaccommodate the backlog of travelers,” Keyes told CNN Travel in an email.”While it will depend on the weather forecast (which looks promising for much of the country) and what number of travelers wind up canceling their holiday plans, I’d expect that by next week, things will have largely returned to normal,” Keyes said.And why are so many people having trouble rebooking?”One complicating factor for people hoping to get reaccommodated is the fact that there are so few available seats this season,” Keyes said.”That’s both because Christmas and New Year is one of the most popular times of year for travel, and because the number of flights on the schedule this year is still down 15-20%, making the challenge even steeper for those needing to get rebooked.”Buffalo still reelingMeanwhile, in hard-hit western New York, Buffalo International Airport said in its most recent tweet that it plans to resume passenger flights at 11 a.m. ET Tuesday.The temperature at the airport was 19 degrees Fahrenheit around 4 p.m. ET, with light snow falling on top of the huge amounts the area has already seen.And it’s not just the airport affected there. Road travel remained treacherous because of extreme wintry conditions.In New York state’s western Erie County, emergency restrictions on driving were lifted in some communities but remained in place in Buffalo, County Executive Mark Poloncarz said Monday.”The City of Buffalo is impassable in most areas, while mains may have a lane open for emergency traffic or two, most secondaries as well as side streets have not been touched yet,” Poloncarz said.He adding that the cleared main roads are primarily for the use of life-saving measures to open up areas around hospitals and nursing homes.A rough past weekA winter storm that swept across the U.S. was ill-timed for travelers who had started pushing Christmas week flying numbers back toward pre-pandemic levels.On Christmas Day, there were 3,178 flights canceled and 6,870 flight delayed, according to FlightAware.On Christmas Eve, there were a total of 3,487 flights canceled, according to FlightAware.Friday was the worst day of this streak with 5,934 cancellations, while Thursday saw almost 2,700 cancellations.This megablast of winter weather across the eastern two-thirds of the nation is forecast to slowly moderate this week.