It’s the time of year for get-togethers with family, abundant spreads, and… airline accidents?
The main cause of last year’s holiday headaches was Southwest Airlines’ significant system failure.
The airline itself is aware as well. Southwest’s Chief Operating Officer Andrew Watterson admitted that the previous winter was a disaster in a video sent to staff members, which USA TODAY had the opportunity to watch. The airline had canceled almost 17,000 flights in December alone.
“You know what happens when we have winter operations that slow us down and we are unable to get crew out in the system? Referring to the fact that crews are frequently scheduled on multiday trips and that flight cancellations can have an impact on the employee schedule for several days, he stated in the video, “Well, if you don’t get out day one, you’re not out day two and day three, and it really put a stress on our crew system, and our crew network essentially fell apart.”
However, Southwest claims that because of its kind actions, customers are moving forward with cautious optimism, and the airline is prepared for whatever winter weather Mother Nature brings.
Watterson stated, “The disruption we had last winter was really hard on our customers and our employees,” on the airline’s earnings call in October. It has always been important to get ready to stop something similar from happening in the future. Naturally, the disruption was brought on by an extraordinary storm that struck multiple of our most important stations at the same time, but there were numerous contributing factors as well.
Southwest’s response from the previous winter
Following the collapse of the previous winter, Southwest provided its customers with a cache of Rapid Rewards points and other vouchers as well as reimbursements for costs such as hotels, rental cars, and other flights.
When backup flights were booked up for days, Marc Kruskol—who was stranded in Denver after his flight was canceled last year while traveling to see family in North Carolina—returned home to California. After the incident in December, he eventually received a full refund along with drink coupons, a $500 voucher, and other benefits.
Kruskol, 66, who owns a public relations company, stated, “I definitely did want and felt we deserved compensation for the hassle we went through and for everything surrounding it.” “But that was okay once that all transpired and appeared to be resolved.”
With her family of seven, Crystal Muñoz was left stranded at Honolulu International Airport during the meltdown. After searching through a haphazard stack of bags for their belongings, she claimed that approximately a month later, the family was given vouchers worth 25,000 Rapid Rewards for each member.
“For a family who enjoys traveling, it’s a respectable quantity of vouchers,” she remarked.
“The constant concern is, ‘What will happen if I get stuck again?'” stated Kruskol. However, he stated that if he does decide to travel, he will probably take a flight with Southwest because the airline offers two complimentary checked bags and he has a lot of Rapid Rewards points saved.
He went on, “I’m a very frugal guy.”
In the meantime, Muñoz surprised her daughter with a trip to Disney World for her 18th birthday by using the Rapid Rewards voucher from the disruption that occurred last winter.
It turned out nicely. For our family, it was a wonderful memory,” she remarked. “We were actually grateful for the drama over the holidays because it allowed us to have a bonus vacation for our next holiday, which was her birthday.”