‘Tis the season for family gatherings, bountiful spreads and … airline meltdowns?
Last year’s holiday headaches were primarily a result of Southwest Airlines and its major system meltdown.
Even the airline itself is aware. In a video distributed to employees, which USA TODAY had a chance to review, Southwest’s Chief Operating Officer Andrew Watterson acknowledged that last winter was a mess after the airline canceled nearly 17,000 flights over a 10-day period in December.
“When we have winter operations that slow us down, and we can’t get crew out in the system, guess what happens? Well, if you don’t get out day one, you’re not out day two and day three, and it really put a stress on our crew system, and our crew network essentially fell apart,” he said in the video, referring to how crews are often scheduled on multiday trips, so flights that get canceled can cause ripples through the employee schedule for many days.
