Southwest Airlines cancels more than 1,000 weekend flights
Southwest Airlines canceled hundreds of flights over the weekend due to weather and air traffic control concerns.
FlightAware said that the airline canceled almost 1,000 flights, or 28% of its schedule, by 5 p.m. ET Sunday. That was the highest rate among major U.S.
airlines. Next, Allegiant and Spirit canceled 5% and 4% of their flights on Sunday, according to the flight tracker. 2% of American Airlines flights were canceled.
Southwest Airlines stated in an emailed statement that weather concerns in its Florida airports at the start of the weekend were compounded by
unforeseen air traffic control issues. These difficulties caused delays and major aircraft cancellations starting Friday night.
"We've continued diligent work throughout the weekend to reset our operation with a focus on getting aircraft and crews repositioned to take
care of our customers," stated Southwest. "With fewer frequencies between cities in our current schedule, recovering during operational challenges
Henry H. Harteveldt, president and travel industry analyst of San Francisco-based The Atmosphere Research Group, cites other cancelation factors.
Southwest started scheduling too many flights in June, he claims. He also remarked that Southwest's point-to-point route network "cascades" delays