Southwest Stole Christmas. It Still Has Superfans.

It's difficult to be a Southwest Airlinesinfluencer.

Kody and Kyler McCormick have been making videos and social media posts boosting Southwest for years in exchange for vouchers or cash. The quality of Southwest's customer service, the music that airline staff members play while travelers are boarding, and the views from the window of a plane at takeoff are all topics they can discuss.

They are ready to book their flights. It's possible Memphis. It's definitely Southwest.

Kyler and his brother run a production company called the Outbound Life and Kyler said that a perfect storm can make it easy to destroy a track record. It is possible to surprise someone by helping them get across the country to see them.

One of the worst spirals in the airline industry has happened with Southwest. More than 11,000 Southwest flights have been canceled in the last week. This week, the pandemonium continued. Almost half of the flights were canceled this Thursday.

Southwest wasn't able to get its flights back on schedule quickly because of the winter storm. It's unusual approach to operations includes flying planes directly from one smaller destination to another without returning them to major hubs. Thousands of would-be holiday revelers are stranded and angry because of the chaos.

Travelers used social media to vent their anger at the airline. Southwest's 20,000 member community was filled with people trading frustration, advice and even a tale of pizza offered to those waiting for their items at baggage claim

others went to TikTok Over the holidays, you have been planning a trip for six-plus months. One TikTok user said that they would have to cancel it. We told you about five minutes before you boarded the plane.

Southwest fans have remained prepared to defend their brand.

Southwest has had a following for a long time. Southwest has built a reputation for customer service stunts, lots of social media engagement and a general sense of humor, and it is one of the reasons why airlines tend to compete mainly on prices. The Southwest Storytellers program, which recruits people like the McCormicks to make content in exchange for vouchers, points and perks, is a practice that other airlines also use.

As she and her family flew from Alameda, Calif., to Charlotte, NC, this week, Harvey said that the good parts were more important than the bad.

The quirks of America's budget airlines have attracted organic loyalists, ordinary people who just love to fly cheap.

When she was a cheerleader at Southwest, she relied on it to get her from New Orleans to her home in the Bay Area. She began following TikTok videos of people dancing on Southwest flights or travelers getting engaged.

She said she had a high tolerance for logistical turbulence that came at a good price. She booked a new Southwest flight as soon as she heard about the airline's troubles. She is going to Maui in February. She got a voucher for the flight because of travel complaints.

Ms. Dubey has a tolerance for turbulence and is a fan of the budget airline Spirit. She went to New Orleans for a festival. After arriving at the airport about an hour before her flight, she was re booked on a different flight six hours later. Ms. Dubey didn't seem to mind. She sat in the airport and ate Auntie Anne's.

She said that she knows she is signing herself up for the chaos. It makes for a great story.

The era of budget air travel has enabled a certain type of nonstop vacationing: cheap flights that support weekend jaunts in order to find good content on social media. Younger people spend 35 days a year traveling, more than older people. Frequent travel means accepting a certain level of chaos. Even if a flight is delayed or canceled, people will still choose the cheapest option for their next flight.

If you are going to travel in the Midwest in the winter, you need to become detached from your plan.

Ms. Fierro could tell. Her holiday plans were disrupted by this week's events. She was going to go to Florida to spend Christmas with her friends. She was waiting for the weather to clear so she could go. That didn't happen. She canceled her plans and spent Christmas on her own. She booked a trip to Phoenix on Southwest using credit from that flight.

Ms Fierro said she loves Southwest. Everyone has their own preferences. My location will always be Southwest.

Southwest apologized this week. The stock fell on Wednesday. The airline was taken to task by the government. Devotees of the brand hope that the disorder will prompt some soul-searching.

Kyler said that they don't look like the good guy at the moment. It's difficult to see Southwest face that.