Nearly five days after an historic winter storm halted air travel across the country, not much has changed in the Southwest Terminal of Midway Airport in Chicago, as Southwest travelers continue to search for their missing luggage in a sea of bags, or hope to board a flight that has likely been canceled.
"It's terrible," one Southwest traveler at Midway told NBC 5. "There's no communication. We've been here for over three hours this morning, no communication whatsoever.
And while Midway passengers this week may receive some more in-person customer service assistance from O'Hare staff that has been dispatched to the airport, the problems are expected to persist for "several days."
Chicago Travelers Remain Stranded as Southwest to ‘Operate Reduced Schedule' For ‘Several Days'
In a statement released by Southwest Monday, the airline said it was severe weather that "forced daily changes to our flight schedule at a volume and magnitude that still has the tools our teams use to recover the airline operating at capacity," and that the airline has made the decision to "continue operating a reduced schedule by flying roughly one third of our schedule for the next several days."
A video update posted on Southwest Airline's website Tuesday from CEO Bob Jordan echoed this sentiment, saying that "cities where large numbers of scheduled flights simultaneously froze as record bitter cold brought challenges for all airlines."
"Our network is highly complex and the operation of the airline counts on all the pieces, especially aircraft and crews remaining in motion to where they're planned to go," Jordan said. "The tools we use to recover from disruption serve us well, 99 percent of the time; but clearly, we need to double down on our already existing plans to upgrade systems for these extreme circumstances so that we never again face what's happening right now."
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Jordan concluded his message by saying the airline is "optimistic to be back on track before next week."
However, according to travel expert Kurt Ebenhoch, it's not the storm that caused this disruption.
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"If this was just purely a weather problem, all the carriers would have having the same difficulties," Ebenhock told NBC 5 in an interview.
Southwest on Monday canceled 70%, and more than 60% on Tuesday. Alternatively, American, United, Delta and JetBlue, saw cancellation rates of between 0 and 2% by Tuesday.
Overall, of the 2,890 flight cancellations in the U.S. early Tuesday, 2,522 were called off by Southwest.
What Southwest Employees Are Saying
It's not just Southwest passengers that are stranded.
According to a release from TWU Local 556, Southwest Airlines Flight Attendant Union of more than 18,000 members, "thousands" of crew members are also stranded across the country, "some forced to sleep on cots in airports, some in hotels without power or water, and far too many working long hours well past acceptable duty days, and more."
"We know the demands of holiday travel," the union's statement goes on to say. "We know winter storms....We know about stepping up and putting in long work hours when we are called to do so; we are flight attendants. But at this point, the many years of failure by management, despite many unions’ demands to modernize, has left flight attendants fatigued, stranded, hungry and cold."
According to Captain Michael Santoro, Vice President of Southwest Airlines Pilot Association, while severe weather was the catalyst, it was "vastly outdated" IT infrastructure and scheduling system that's different from other carriers that led to the meltdown.
"We fly a point-to-point network which can put our crews in the wrong places, without airplanes, mismatched. Our software cant keep track of it," Santoro said Tuesday, adding that the union brings up this problem yearly.
"They never update it. They never invest the money and resources they need to. So, we continue to have these issues," Santoro.
Captain Casey Murray, SWAPA President on Tuesday called the situation "disgraceful," "catastrophic," and a "failure at every level."
What Federal Agencies Are Doing
The travel mayhem caught the attention of the United States’ Department of Transportation, which called the rate of canceled flights “disproportionate and unacceptable.”
“USDOT is concerned by Southwest Airlines’ disproportionate and unacceptable rate of cancellations and delays, as well as the failure to properly support customers experiencing a cancellation or delay,” a spokesperson said Monday. “As more information becomes available, the department will closely examine whether cancellations were controllable and whether Southwest is complying with its customer service plan, as well as all other pertinent DOT rules.”
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and the Department of Transportation have promised to “hold Southwest accountable” if they fail to live up to their promises to consumers.
“The rate of cancellations and delays on Southwest Airlines is unacceptable and dramatically higher than other U.S. carriers," USDOT said Tuesday. "This afternoon, Secretary Buttigieg spoke with the CEO of Southwest Airlines and conveyed that he expects the airline to live up to the commitments it has made to passengers, including providing meal vouchers, refunds, and hotel accommodations for those experiencing significant delays or cancelations that came about as a result of Southwest’s decisions and actions. Southwest, as all airlines, is also obligated to provide a cash refund for passengers whose flights were canceled and decided not to travel."
Additionally, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker says he has been in contact with federal officials regarding the cancellation of thousands of Southwest Airlines flights in recent days, demanding that the airline be held accountable for a cascading series of issues that have left travelers stranded around the nation.
“I am closely following the ongoing challenges consumers are dealing with regarding their canceled Southwest flights,” Pritzker said. “I have spoken with Secretary Buttigieg to express the frustration of thousands of Illinoisans who have been stranded and missed out on quality time with their families or who have had to call off work because they couldn’t make it back home.”
What to Expect If You're Flying Southwest This Week
For those holding out hope, it doesn't appear like things will be getting better soon.
Southwest said it anticipates "additional changes with an already reduced level of flights as we approach the coming New Year holiday travel period."
"As we continue the work to recover our operation, we have made the decision to continue operating a reduced schedule by flying roughly one third of our schedule for the next several days," the statement read.
It goes on to say that they are "working to reach customers whose travel plans will change."
"On the other side of this, we’ll work to make things right for those we’ve let down, including our Employees," the statement concludes. "We recognize falling short and sincerely apologize."
And while Southwest Airlines CEO says he is "optimistic to be back on track before next week," some passengers have told NBC 5 that Southwest advised them to cancel or rebook if they are flying out before the New Year -- and flight experts agree.
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"It's a safe assumption that if you're flying out with Southwest the next few days, but probably over the next week, that your flight is going to be canceled," said Kyle Potter with Thrifty Traveler.
"The issue here is the ball is in Southwest's court," Potter continued. "The reality of it is that U.S. travelers have shockingly few rights."
According to Southwest Airlines' website, "Customers holding any Southwest reservation from Sunday, December 25 through Monday, January 2, may rebook in the original class of service or travel standby (within 14 days of their original date of travel between the original city-pairs and in accordance with our accommodation procedures) without paying any additional charge."
