Louisville among airports hit by wave of Southwest Airlines cancellations
Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport has not been spared from chaos caused by a huge number of cancellations by a major national airline following the holiday weekend.
Southwest has canceled more than a dozen departing from Louisville after Arctic blast that rendered routes unpassable last week. Eleven of the airline's 12 flights out of Louisville were canceled Monday, said Natalie Chaudoin, director of public relations for Louisville Regional Airport Authority, and seven more have been canceled so far Tuesday as of about 11 a.m.
The local cancellations are part of a national trend. Roughly 4,000 domestic flights were canceled due to weather, according to USA TODAY, and about 2,900 of those were scheduled with Southwest.
Nearly 2,500 more flights had already been canceled as of 5 a.m. Tuesday, and relief could be days away.
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Southwest spokesman Jay McVay said at a press conference in Houston that cancellations snowballed as storm systems moved through the country, leaving flight crews and planes out of place. Frigid temperatures and snow were reported across much of the U.S. late last week and early this week, including in Louisville, which saw nearly 3 inches of snow and the coldest temperatures recorded in the city in more that 30 years on Friday.
“We had a tough day today. In all likelihood we’ll have another tough day tomorrow as we work our way out of this,” Bob Jordan, Southwest's CEO, said Monday, according to the Washington Post. “This is the largest scale event that I’ve ever seen.”
The company also issued a statement to apologize for the cancelations.
"With consecutive days of extreme winter weather across our network behind us, continuing challenges are, Southwest wrote Monday. "And our heartfelt apologies for this are just beginning."
The U.S. Department of Transportation called Southwest's recent cancellations "unacceptable" and said it will look into the matter. In a Twitter post Monday, the department said it is reviewing if the airline's cancellations were "controllable" and if Southwest is "complying with its customer service plan."
USDOT is concerned by Southwest’s unacceptable rate of cancellations and delays & reports of lack of prompt customer service. The Department will examine whether cancellations were controllable and if Southwest is complying with its customer service plan.
— TransportationGov (@USDOT) December 27, 2022
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Southwest's customer service plan lays out what the corporation will and won't do in the event of a delay within its control. Weather events, however, are not included in that policy. The company said it will rebook you on another flight, or, if you choose not to travel after a cancellation, it will "issue a refund of the unused portion of your Southwest ticket upon request," the statement said.
Southwest's website also said it will "honor reasonable requests for reimbursement for meals, hotel and alternate transportation" for customers affected by recent cancellations.
If you're planning to fly out of Louisville, you can check on the status of your flight through the Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport website.
Contact reporter Rae Johnson at RNJohnson@gannett.com. Follow them on Twitter at @RaeJ_33.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Southwest cancellations hit Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport
