Southwest Airlines canceled more than 1,000 flights, 27 percent of its schedule, on Sunday as disruptions that the airline blamed on air traffic control issues and bad weather affected the travel plans of thousands of customers.
“We experienced significant impact in the Florida airports [Friday] evening after an FAA-imposed air traffic management program was implemented due to weather and resulted in a large number of cancellations,” Alan Kasher, who oversees daily flight operations, told staff in a note on Saturday.
The Federal Aviation Administration, which oversees air traffic, didn’t immediately comment. Southwest apologized to travelers for long customer service waits.
Southwest said in a statement on Saturday it hoped “to return to close to normal operations as we move into Sunday.”
“We are working hard behind the scenes to minimize challenges and fully recover the operation as we take care of displaced Crews and Customers as quickly as possible,” the company said.
The Dallas-based airline canceled 808 flights on Saturday, according to flight-tracking site FlightAware. American Airlines, which operates a large hub in Miami, in comparison, canceled 63 mainline flights, or two percent of its operation and Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based Spirit Airlines canceled 32 flights, four percent of its schedule.
Staffing shortages fueled hundreds of cancellations at Southwest over the summer. The airline trimmed its schedule after the summer to avoid further disruptions. Other airlines faced a shortage of workers after encouraging thousands to take leave or buyouts at the height of the pandemic, only for travel demand to return faster than expected this summer.
Southwest did not immediately comment on whether staffing shortfalls contributed to the cancellations this weekend.
The airline has struggled to hire new employees. Incoming CEO Bob Jordan told CNBC last month that the carrier is prepared to cut flights over spring break season if it doesn’t have enough…