Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 plane is pictured at William P. Hobby Airport, Houston, Texas, on March 18, 2019.
Southwest Airlines cancelled more than 1,000 flights on Sunday, 27% of its scheduled flight schedule. The airline blamed disruptions on bad weather and air traffic control problems that affected thousands of customers' travel plans.
"We saw significant changes in Florida's airports Friday evening, after an FAA-imposed program for air traffic management was implemented due to the weather, and resulted a large number cancellations," Alan Kasher, who manages daily flight operations, stated in a Saturday note.
The Federal Aviation Administration overseeing air traffic didn't respond immediately. Southwest apologized for the long wait times in customer service.
Southwest stated in a statement that it expected to "return to close to normal operations" as it moves into Sunday.
The company stated that it was working behind the scenes to minimize the challenges and completely recover the operation, while taking care of customers and Crews who have been displaced.
According to FlightAware, 808 flights were cancelled by the Dallas-based airline on Saturday. American Airlines, which has a major hub in Miami, cancelled 63 mainline flights or 2% of its operations. Fort Lauderdale-based Spirit Airlines cancelled 32 flights, representing 4% of its schedule.
Over the summer, Southwest had hundreds of cancellations due to staff shortages. To avoid disruptions, the airline reduced its schedule in the aftermath of the summer. After allowing thousands of people to take time off or buyouts during the pandemic, other airlines also faced a shortage of employees. However, travel demand returned to normal faster than expected this year.
Southwest didn't immediately respond to a question about whether there were staff shortages that contributed to this weekend's cancellations.
The airline has had difficulty hiring new staff. CNBC reported last month that Bob Jordan, the airline's new CEO, stated to CNBC that it is ready to reduce flights during spring break season if there aren't enough employees to support the operation.
Social media speculations fueled by the disparity in Southwest's operations and those of other airlines led to employees calling in sick.
Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, the labor union representing Southwest pilots, stated that they "can say with confidence that our Pilots do not participate in any official or informal job actions."
It stated that "our Pilots will continue overcome SWA management's poor planning as well as any operational challenges externally and remain the most productive pilots in the world."
The union pointed out that the recent announcement by the company that it would comply with the Biden administration requirement that federal contractors mandate that staff receive Covid vaccines was distracting aviators.
"Make no mistake, due to months-long staffing problems and inefficient scheduling practices, we have been operating with a higher than usual operational risk," the union safety committee stated in a Saturday post.
It stated that reports of fatigue, which are a reason pilots should not fly, are three times more historical norms.
It stated that "All of these difficulties have caused an additional distraction in the cockpit." The Company's announcement of the COVID-19 vaccine mandate this week only makes matters worse."
