Most holiday travelers in the United States started off in cheer at Christmas after thousands of flights were canceled or delayed by Southwest Airlines for the 2022 holidays. However, travelers had to face troubles before Christmas.
A tracking service named FlightAware reported that more than 150 flights got canceled within the United States. Apart from that, close to 2,100 flights were delayed. As per 22 December reports, only 1.2% of all flights in the United States got canceled. These are the lowest numbers in five years.
Also, airlines expect nearly 3 million passengers to pass through domestic airports during the holiday period. Here, the number increased by 16% as compared to last year.
According to CBS News,
“Not everyone got off so lucky. Some passengers at Chicago’s Midway International Airport this Christmas Eve were left stranded on Christmas Eve […], with the U.S. carrier most disrupted during last year’s holiday period — Southwest Airlines — again experiencing problems. Southwest attributed the delays to foggy weather in Chicago, but passengers also told CBS2 that a shortage of workers was a factor.”
On Sunday, Southwest Airlines canceled 293 flights and delayed 1300 trips. Such chaos also created problems for passengers at Denver International Airport. A spokesman from Southwest Airlines spoke up – there was a dense fog in Chicago. It forced the airlines to discontinue their operations for hours.
On Monday, Southwest further canceled 109 flights (which was 2% of its daily trips). Also, they delayed 693 flights.
Earlier this month, Southwest agreed to make a $140 million settlement with the federal government over last year’s chaos. Last year, 2 million travelers were stranded over holidays. Previously, Southwest agreed to pay more than $600 million to customers as refunds and reimbursements.
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