Southwest planes took off from rain-soaked tarmacs on Friday, luggage flowed freely around baggage carousels, and thousands of passengers were once again crowding gates at Bay Area airports.
On any other day, this would have been a routine scene with the airline’s significant hubs in Oakland and San Jose. But after this past week’s colossal airline meltdown, wary travelers on the tail-end of the most chaotic holiday travel season in decades were wondering: Are things really back to normal?
“Everybody is checking their phones every 20 minutes,” said LaDonna Parham, a professional mentor who spent a night stranded “cold and hungry” at the Denver airport after a Southwest cancellation. On Friday, she cautiously flew from Oakland back home to Austin, Texas, making sure to book a non-stop flight and take only a carry-on bag. “If it’s not a direct flight, I’m not going.”
Southwest had promised that by Friday it would restore its flight schedule with “minimal disruptions.” And by late morning, the airline appeared to have successfully hit the reset button, pulling off a remarkable turnaround from slashing over 15,000 flights in recent days to operating at full steam with over 4,200 flights. Oakland International saw zero canceled flights by Friday afternoon, and Mineta San Jose International tallied only three, about 1% of Southwest traffic.
Days earlier, electronic boards cataloging arrivals and departures were overflowing with anxiety-inducing red boxes marking canceled flights and countless upended holiday plans. On Friday, the boards in Oakland were a sea of calming green noting the on-time arrival of planes from Chicago, Phoenix and San Antonio.
For passengers such as Barry and Sheila Gibert, of Yorba Linda, the airport chaos has given way to smooth sailing. “It was great, it was perfect,” said Sheila, who arrived in San Jose from Orange County. “The flight was one-third full. Absolutely wonderful. It could not have been nicer.”
In his first interview since the biggest operational debacle in Southwest history, CEO Bob Jordan said the airline is “off to a great start today.”
“Beyond safety, there is no greater focus at this point than taking care of our customers, reuniting them with their bags, getting refunds processed,” Jordan said on ABC’s Good Morning America. He promised the airline would work to prevent a future collapse and sidestepped questions over whether he should resign.
Jamie Green, 52, greeted the situation at the Oakland airport with a mixture of relief and hesitance.
“Lord have mercy,” said Green as she checked in for a flight to Las Vegas. Green was also checking her phone constantly for signs of delays, which had yet to appear. “The line is not humongous, and I feel hopeful.”
The airline havoc has sparked a federal investigation and mounting pressure to hold Southwest leadership accountable. A massive winter storm sent the entire industry into a tail-spin starting on the Thursday before Christmas, but Southwest’s trouble snowballed as competing airlines recovered from weather delays. On Monday, Southwest canceled nearly 3,000 flights, while the budget carrier Frontier canceled just 48 planes.
Air travel experts say Southwest’s failure to update its decades-old scheduling software catalyzed the mass cancellations, which left customers stranded around the country. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said his agency was ready to levy hefty fines on Southwest if they “fail to meet what is required of them to take care of passengers.”
While Friday saw Southwest’s return to operations, the fiasco has deeply tarnished the reputation of the Golden State’s “unofficial flag airline.” The episode may cost the company hundreds of millions of dollars, and Southwest faces swarms of loyal customers who are now questioning their devotion to the carrier.
“I used to be die-hard Southwest at all costs,” said Heath Lehman, a frequent Southwest flyer. “It’s not going to be that way any longer.”
Lehman and his son Ethan were trying to salvage a long-awaited Hawaii vacation. After watching customers break down crying in an Arkansas airport on Christmas, they booked a $600 rental car to Dallas and, after spending a “full human day” on hold, the pair were on the final stretch. They could almost taste the Mai Tais and feel the sand between their toes, but first they had a six-hour layover in rainy Oakland.
“We’re praying,” said Lehman.
But plenty of passengers said they are willing to give the airline a second chance, citing years of good service. “I like Southwest because in the past they’ve made things right,” said Hope Vailancourt, who had to shell out for an unintended hotel stay in San Jose for a few nights with her husband, Scott. “I have confidence that they will. They’re a good airline, so I hope things will work out.”
Source: www.mercurynews.com