The Southwest Airlines “meltdown” continued at Boston Logan International Airport and throughout the nation on Wednesday, as greater than 60% of the airways’ flights have been canceled, stranding passengers throughout this busy vacation journey week.
More than half of the flight cancellations at Boston Logan on Wednesday have been but once more Southwest flights. As of 5 p.m., Southwest had nixed 29 flights at Logan, which was 59% of the airport’s whole of 49 flight cancellations, in line with FlightAware.
“Due to Southwest fight cancellations nationwide, we urge passengers to check the status of their flight before coming to the airport,” Boston Logan International Airport tweeted.
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg on Wednesday was requested whether or not the nationwide nightmare involving Southwest was a “meltdown.”
“It’s the only word I can think of to describe what’s happening at Southwest Airlines,” Buttigieg mentioned on ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Wednesday.
“We are past the point where they could say this is a weather-driven issue,” he added, noting that each one of this was sparked by the huge winter storm that swept throughout the nation and severely disrupted all airways — however that as of Wednesday, the remainder of the aviation system was all the way down to a charge of 4% canceled flights, whereas Southwest’s cancellation charge was north of 60%.
“What this indicates is a system failure, and they need to make sure that these stranded passengers get to where they need to go and that they’re provided adequate compensation,” Buttigieg mentioned.
That means refunds for the flight itself, along with compensation for accommodations, floor transportation and meals “because this is the airlines’ responsibility,” he added. “We will be watching closely to make sure that actually happens.”
Southwest Airlines CEO Bob Jordan mentioned he was “truly sorry” for the scenario, and that the airline was “doing everything we can to return to a normal operation” following the most important winter storm.
“We’re focused on safely getting all of the pieces back into position to end this rolling struggle,” Jordan mentioned in a video.
“The tools we use to recover from disruption serve us well, 99% of the time,” he later added. “But clearly, we need to double down on our already existing plans to upgrade systems for these extreme circumstances so that we never again face what’s happening right now.”
Southwest’s plan for the following few days is to fly a diminished schedule, and reposition their workers and planes.
Jordan mentioned, “We’re making headway, and we’re optimistic to be back on track before next week.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com”