My group was flying out of BHM on SWA Saturday and Sunday. I’m debating cancelling those and booking elsewhere. Nothing seems to point to them having this figured out by the weekend.
Hope none of y’all are flying Southwest to Tampa
- Thread starter Forrest4Moore
- Start date
Southwest is having some major problems now. From what I read they were trying to blame it on the weather, but other airlines were flying with few delays so the real reason is something internal. Same article said flight crews, including flight attendants, were treated terribly by the airline.
Sounds like it's an antiquated software issue.
I've been telling people for years that Southwest was on borrowed time. Old planes, old everything. They are technically in the 'big 4' of airlines but they are not like the other 3.
I quit messing with Southwest when a piece of their freaking fuselage broke off years ago. That was it for me.
I'm a Delta/American man. United if I need to.
I've been telling people for years that Southwest was on borrowed time. Old planes, old everything. They are technically in the 'big 4' of airlines but they are not like the other 3.
I quit messing with Southwest when a piece of their freaking fuselage broke off years ago. That was it for me.
I'm a Delta/American man. United if I need to.
Software seems to be at least a major part of the problem. Their main advantage is that they fly to non-hub places that other airlines don't go to.
Friend of mine was flying w/ them yesterday and they told him they had no flight crews left available to work the flight he was on because they were all either stranded somewhere or had used up their hours and had to be off per contracts. Whatever the reason doesn't sound good for them, other airlines cancelled 2-3% of their flights, SW 62%.
Family was supposed to fly Southwest tomorrow from Baltimore to Jackson to see family for the holidays, got cancelled this morning. Everything else is sooooo expensive now. We're just waiting until the kids spring break to come down now.
This email was on a pilot friend of mine's Facebook. He doesn't fly for Southwest but someone he knows does.
Yeah. Told my brother this morning they have to have had some kind of major computer crash. No way all those cancellations are weather related. Southwest isn’t anywhere here near the airline it once was.
I had a couple bad experiences with southwest earlier this year. I generally fly delta and after my experience earlier this year, I will only fly delta.
Had to cancel our family vacation due to their F up. Is what it is - we are on Plan B but down a good bit of money in hotel cancellation and other non refundable stuff we had planned. I'll be switching CC points programs and taking my business elsewhere. They aren't a well run company any longer from the customer experience side.
Some of my extended family was flying to Orlando from Houston on Sunday. Found out it was cancelled when they got to the counter. Had already checked bags outside, so they had to find those etc. My son was supposed to fly to Jackson from Houston today, and it was cancelled last night. I don’t see how they can blame weather when others are not canceling flights at the same rate.
For what it's worth.... I flew SW to Dallas Friday morning and Christmas morning back to Mem.
Christmas morning as we waited to board, SW came over the PA and announced that if you were flying to Salt Lake from Dallas, the flight was canceled and your best bet was to drive. The guy was brutally Frank but he was honest. he said they were booked through the week and had no flights to add and no room on any future flights for the next week. Ouch. Thank goodness I made it out of Dallas.
Christmas morning as we waited to board, SW came over the PA and announced that if you were flying to Salt Lake from Dallas, the flight was canceled and your best bet was to drive. The guy was brutally Frank but he was honest. he said they were booked through the week and had no flights to add and no room on any future flights for the next week. Ouch. Thank goodness I made it out of Dallas.
Delta currently flies more older planes than Southwest. The accident you're referring to was due to an uncontained engine failure sending shrapnel into the fuselage. That has also happened on a Delta flight which killed two people. Other than that, I'm guessing Southwest will get some badly needed operational overhaul due to this cluster.
Me of their shittiness.
To me, the airline you fly on the most should be the one that best services your home airport. If you live in Charlotte - that’s American; Atlanta - Delta; etc. I spend a lot of time in the Nashville airport. SWA is the best option out of BNA. It’s going to be hard for their struggles to materially impact my spending habits.
American and Delta are awful for regional flights in any other city. Always a connection to Atlanta or Dallas. Southwest has the best direct flight options for most cities.
Our contract is usually southwest out of MSY so I fly southwest a lot. This is making me nervous about upcoming business trips. I hope the renegotiate our contract on get American as a backup. I used to fly American all the time.
I’ve had my fair share of bad experiences with all of them. American in particular has screwed me the most. SW has normally been fairly dependable for me. Delta has been the best but also most expensive.
Just last month I got stuck in Dallas for 6 hours on American (scheduled for 3pm and left at 9pm). They had another full flight going to my destination that left ON TIME around 5pm. Talk about frustrating. Literally had the same size plane make the same flight mine was going to make, while mine continued to be delayed for 4 more hours.
Just last month I got stuck in Dallas for 6 hours on American (scheduled for 3pm and left at 9pm). They had another full flight going to my destination that left ON TIME around 5pm. Talk about frustrating. Literally had the same size plane make the same flight mine was going to make, while mine continued to be delayed for 4 more hours.
I fly out of Memphis. Nothing really sticks out bt SWA and Delta there. 6 of one / half dozen. Really just depends what your destination cities are. I get companion pass with SWA from my Visa but might switch cards to give Delta (or others) a whirl. May not get a companion pass type perk but maybe lounge or class upgrades among other things. Might as well use this as my motivation to try something different.
I hope they get it figured out. I recently started compiling SW miles on my Chase Sapphire card as an alternative to Delta (which I love), just because I have small kids. When we want to fly with them, its preferable to minimize connecting flights and just get from A to B as quickly as possible. But this is the second major operational cluster they have had in less than a year….may have to rethink my strategy.
Who “best services” your home airport also depends on where you’re going. Delta has non-stop flights to Seattle, LA, Boston, NYC, and a few other great cities out of BNA. SW is, by design, always going to have more direct flight options, but that may not matter if you don’t frequent their destinations very often.
