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But are they going to solve their technical problem, update the system?
Hopefully they will update their scheduling system. However, that's probably a project with a $100 million+ budget and 2 or 3 years timeline. These systems don't just drop in in an hour and start working. SWA has not shown a willingness to spend the money in the past, preferring to pay dividends and such. Let's hope this week's debacle makes them change their mind.
I saw a comment in another thread that this would never have happened when Kelleher was in charge. I think that's probably true, and SWA management since he left(and died) has lost the plot and focused on the wrong things.
I think the CEO has to go. Isn't this like the second Southwest specific meltdown under Jordan's leadership and the third since he was named as the current CEO (in fall last year, he was working with the then-CEO on a similar staff out position issue.) The problem is Southwest uses a faulty system that from most accounts is too antiquated and should have been replaced decades ago.
I know they had an epic meltdown in October 2021, where Southwest canceled more than 2,000 flights over a four-day period, costing the airline $75 million. Of course this one pales in comparison to that one!
This meltdown could easily cost them a few hundred million dollars, and that doesn't include the cost to redo their entire employee scheduling/verification system.
I think it was a matter of time before this happens. Their point-to-point system is always going to be more vulnerable to cascading issues like this and being able to precisely position legal crews to align perfectly with available planes is pretty much a requirement to make that work at all. Once the dominoes on the first issue started falling and the 2nd component couldn't keep up, it was all set for things to go fubar.
I think there may have been a culture of complacency at SWA due to their pretty good PR for a long time and the fact their customers are more forgiving than other airlines (larger % of leisure/infrequent flyers, a lot of pax who think they're getting a deal, a lot of pax who need city pairings the legacy carriers don't offer).
I think it was a matter of time before this happens. Their point-to-point system is always going to be more vulnerable to cascading issues like this and being able to precisely position legal crews to align perfectly with available planes is pretty much a requirement to make that work at all. Once the dominoes on the first issue started falling and the 2nd component couldn't keep up, it was all set for things to go fubar.
I think there may have been a culture of complacency at SWA due to their pretty good PR for a long time and the fact their customers are more forgiving than other airlines (larger % of leisure/infrequent flyers, a lot of pax who think they're getting a deal, a lot of pax who need city pairings the legacy carriers don't offer).
Yes but as I mentioned this is at least the second if not the third time this has happened in a year and a half. From what was shared by several news outlets, many are not happy with them and a number have already said they are done with SWA after this. As good as SWA has been on a customer service side besides the rescheduling nightmare, something major like this will cause irreparable damage especially since the phone lines are down for the carrier as well.
I know they had an epic meltdown in October 2021, where Southwest canceled more than 2,000 flights over a four-day period, costing the airline $75 million. Of course this one pales in comparison to that one!
This meltdown could easily cost them a few hundred million dollars, and that doesn't include the cost to redo their entire employee scheduling/verification system.
Also add in upgrades to keep the phone line up. Employees and customers alike have had issues with calling SWA. Agree reading the USDOT website, I hope that Republicans and Democrats come together to make new laws to protect passengers as these cancelations have become more and more common due to more severe weather, understaffing and in SWA's case inadequate IT software.
Airline problem has been going on for a couple years. Nothing has been done. Republican House will make this a priority. Our aviation industry is in shambles, heads should roll. Buttgeig should resign, he's totally ineffective and has no experience in the transportation industry, he'll need to answer for it in Congressional hearings.
Airline problem has been going on for a couple years. Nothing has been done. Republican House will make this a priority. Our aviation industry is in shambles, heads should roll. Buttgeig should resign, he's totally ineffective and has no experience in the transportation industry, he'll need to answer for it in Congressional hearings.
And who would replace him? Another Biden pick who Republicans in the House and conservatives will never give a fair chance to and resign or face hearings for merely existing...
Buttgeig has an unenviable task. He is asked to work with a reduced headcount due to the pandemic, in particular with pilots due to the age and on top of that the encouraged retirements during COVID. Then add in issues with SWA's IT system that despite previous similar problems, SWA has not fixed. I wish the USDOT had more teeth, especially with the lost luggage issues from the summer.
Republican house makes this a priority? Why? If SWA fails - they fail. Like any other business that provides poor customer service - they will soon be without customers. Yes, some customers suffer in the meantime - but overall, why is this the government's problem?
Southwest (and, well, if you've ever waited at the check-in desk to swap tickets, ALL carriers) has a slowwwww network. It is NOTHING like the internet you use to actually buy the ticket, which takes all of 30 seconds. And this week - with the blizzard - and the (as others mentioned) point-to-point network - eh, it just kinda fell apart. It's a complex system. But gov't intervention isn't the solution. All that will do is raise your ticket prices. It will not reduce blizzards.
If you are trying to say that when planes are grounded - customers should have an easy way to get their money back - I do agree with that. But YOU agree to the existing policy when you buy the ticket. Don't like it? Don't fly.
I also wouldn't refer to SouthWest as a "low cost" carrier or some kind of budget / fly-by-night deal. They are fairly mainstream - their ticket cost is not always less, and certainly sometimes more, than the Big Three.
USDOT does not need more teeth - just stop flying SouthWest, problem solved. (I'm not advocating that, really - I like SW - I just mean let the people sort it, not politics.)
I don’t think the DOT, regardless of who is in charge, can really do much about this. I know some folks are clamoring for “new laws” to prevent something like this, but I’m not sure that any new law would be effective unless we’re now going to mandate that airlines use a certain kind of crew scheduling system. Mandating something like “passengers must be rebooked for a flight within two days” wouldn’t really help in this situation, when there aren’t any crew or planes to take anyone anywhere, and all of the other airlines are full due to holiday travel.
Hopefully Southwest can get their aircraft and crews into position and sort this out as quickly as possible.
I flew United for the holidays because I like to fly to a smaller regional airport that Southwest doesn’t serve and I’ve actually been impressed with United lately. You can do A LOT with their app, including rebooking yourself in the event of a long delay or cancelation and the bag tracking functionality works really well too. It sure beats standing in line or waiting to talk to someone on the phone when an issue arises.
I’ll still fly Southwest when they have the best price and itinerary for my needs, but lately they don’t even offer that.
Republican house makes this a priority? Why? If SWA fails - they fail. Like any other business that provides poor customer service - they will soon be without customers. Yes, some customers suffer in the meantime - but overall, why is this the government's problem?
Southwest (and, well, if you've ever waited at the check-in desk to swap tickets, ALL carriers) has a slowwwww network. It is NOTHING like the internet you use to actually buy the ticket, which takes all of 30 seconds. And this week - with the blizzard - and the (as others mentioned) point-to-point network - eh, it just kinda fell apart. It's a complex system. But gov't intervention isn't the solution. All that will do is raise your ticket prices. It will not reduce blizzards.
If you are trying to say that when planes are grounded - customers should have an easy way to get their money back - I do agree with that. But YOU agree to the existing policy when you buy the ticket. Don't like it? Don't fly.
I also wouldn't refer to SouthWest as a "low cost" carrier or some kind of budget / fly-by-night deal. They are fairly mainstream - their ticket cost is not always less, and certainly sometimes more, than the Big Three.
USDOT does not need more teeth - just stop flying SouthWest, problem solved. (I'm not advocating that, really - I like SW - I just mean let the people sort it, not politics.)
They won't. They'll say SWA or any other airlines that have similar issues should handle this on their own without government intervention. Regardless of how many times SWA may have this same issue which has happened what now three times?
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