Is Southwest still canceling flights? Here's where things stand at DCA, IAD and BWI
Staff shortages and an outdated scheduling system are to blame for the continuing cancelations at Southwest Airlines, and one of the hardest-hit airports is BWI.
There has been a total of 190 cancelations at BWI on Thursday all of which are Southwest flights, according to flight tracking website FlightAware. Compare that to 68 canceled flights at DCA, 64 of which are Southwest, and nine cancelations at IAD, 7 of which are Southwest flights.
The airline has canceled more than 15,000 flights since winter weather began disrupting air travel on Dec. 22, including more than 2,300 flights on Thursday alone.
On Wednesday, there were 4,600 flight cancelations with 2,500 of those flights reportedly being Southwest flights.
There are also still hundreds of unclaimed bags and suitcases at the Southwest terminal at BWI. The airline says it’s finalizing a resource to assist travelers with reuniting with lost or missing baggage.
FOX 5 spoke to one Southwest passenger at BWI Airport who expressed her frustrations.
"I've traveled about 17 hours from Ft. Lauderdale to here because all of our flights have been delayed, delayed, delayed, canceled, delayed, delayed, delayed, standby, canceled, and now we're back here, and we're still missing, like, five pieces of luggage," says Dominique Walker.
The CCO of Southwest admits the airline has let its customers and employees down, but that they are doing everything they can to make it right.
Former TSA official Keith Jeffries says there are things we can learn from this situation.
"You should have a contingency plan. What happens if your flight is canceled? What's your backup plan to get to your next destination?" says Jeffries. "Consider having the insurance as well associated with getting a refundable ticket. Make sure you read that fine print, and of course, most importantly, we've got to be patient."
Travel expert Troy Petenbrink says if you're currently dealing with this travel nightmare, there are ways you can protect yourself.
"Many credit cards have built-in travel protection that most people are unaware of," Petenbrink says. "But oftentimes, you can call up your credit card company and say, ‘Hey, can you help me out? Can you book me on another flight?’ And they'll pay for that."
In the latest update, Southwest says they plan to operate a reduced schedule by flying roughly one-third of its schedule for the next several days. Southwest also says it has implemented a site where customers can contact Southwest to rebook or request a refund.