Passengers Stuck In Airports Until New Year's Eve

People are learning one of the big downsides to flying on Southwest -- no interline agreements at all, so when this happens, you are fucked. Your only option is rebooking on Southwest.

Are they in airports because the airline won’t put them in a hotel?

R2 you got it

Mayor Pete made some threats to the airline today -telling them they should be proactively offering refunds, hotels,etc. Or else.

I really do hate flying Southwest.

Can’t they get refunds of flights are cancelled?

Southwest is telling customers you need pay for your own hotel (if you don't want to stay at the airport) and keep the receipt. We will reimburse you

Sure

[quote] Can’t they get refunds of flights are cancelled?

No one is answering the phone

This is the end for this airline company.

At least they have someplace nice to stay for the holidays so it’s all working out well for them.

It's almost like we don't have a Secretary of Transportation!! Maybe if the Snownado was covered in donor money and ribbon cutting ceremonies---things could have turned out differently?

OP - a link would be helpful.

[quote] It's almost like we don't have a Secretary of Transportation!!

What exactly would you like him to do?

R11 Yes because airlines weren't delaying flights until he arrived!

There’s only so much power the Secretary of Transportation has. If he tried to exert power over private businesses, republicans would sue the executive branch

Rumor has it that Greg Abbott is rounding up those folks stranded in TX and busing them to Pete Buttigieg's residence.

I'm surprised there hasn't been nationwide Karen explosion.

Here's news footage from a recent Southwest flight

R16 = If that's true we know the migrants will be in a white neighborhood.

What are they complaining about? They are stuck in beautiful Baltimore.

DL FAVE (gay cutie) Steven Romo and his husband stuck in an airport too...VIDEO (1:10)....

[quote] It's almost like we don't have a Secretary of Transportation!!

If he DID intervene, you’d call it socialism. Seriously, eat a turd, Matt-fatso. Even better: get a life and step away from DL for ten seconds, for Christ's sake.

Their homes probably don't have heating, so this has worked out well for them.

[quote] I really do hate flying Southwest.

But it is a step up from flying white trash class on ghetto air - Spirit

Airline travel has been bursting at the seams for years. Planes will crash 💥 and riots💥 will take place in airports.

I wonder how many hot stranded men have introduced themselves to each other and have already ended up having sex with each other in the men's room ? If those walls could talk...

I read that travelers with nothing to do are examining luggage tags for phone numbers and then texting the bag's owner with the location. Nice!

Sounds like a covidy time, I wouldn't do it.

I've generally had good experiences with Southwest. I think it's lame that I can't book a seat - even for a fee, but it's not that big of a deal.

I am currently in Arizona for the holiday. I almost always fly Southwest out of St. Louis since live in central Illinois. But, I just happened to take bargain basement Allegiant for this trip because I got a good deal. Looks like a got really lucky. My flight, so far, is on time for tomorrow for the return trip.

"This is the end for this airline company."

I doubt it. People will - rightfully - talk big shit about SW for a while, and say "never again." SW will refund a lot of tickets and offer credit to some people, then they'll have a big fare sale and people will be enticed by low prices again. Their next SW flight won't go bad and they'll be back to having SW as a regular option.

[quote]How can this happen in 2022!

Oh that one's easy.

The airlines decided that nobody had to wear masks on planes anymore, because FREEDOM(TM).

Pilots have been catching COVID 5-6 times and are now going out on permanent disability.

So not nearly enough healthy pilots/crew to keep flights going.

Capitalism won over COVID, and now we're all paying the consequences.

Covid has nothing to do with this shit storm.

R31, please support your claim with a credible link.

"I read that travelers with nothing to do are examining luggage tags for phone numbers and then texting the bag's owner with the location. Nice!"

I started to read that and jumped to the conclusion that they were texting each other to hook up -and then I finished the sentence and felt ashamed. People can be amazingly nice at times. I'm sure the owners truly appreciated the texts.

[quote][R31], please support your claim with a credible link.

Pour vous.

The current clusterfuck appears to definitely be weather-related, but long COVID has been fucking up the airline industry in a big way.

[quote] Looks like a got really lucky. My flight, so far, is on time for tomorrow for the return trip.

R29, I'd check in early & get to the airport early. If one airline is down, it puts stress on all the other airlines. I was in the traveling during the Delta strike and it was stressful.

Agreed, R36. Already checked in and I'll go earlier than usual. I'm a "get to the airport two hours before departure" person. But tomorrow I'll go even earlier. Plus find out as much as I can before I leave for the airport. Weather looks okay and I got out to AZ okay on Saturday, even though I was leaving in extreme cold and windy conditions.

Who is THIS cutie?

I want to be stranded with him.

Let's try that again... ^^^^^^^^^

[quote] Covid has nothing to do with this shit storm.

Jesus wept. We really are doomed as a species.

My pussy stinks- literally!

Must be a nightmare. I can't imagine being stranded like that and airline won't help at all.

This cutie got stranded too. He rented a car with three other strangers and drove home to Ohio.

That's exactly what I'd do too. If I had the money and was stuck somewhere I didn't want to. be, I'd drive home.^^

Fuck Southwest!! Fuck it right up its Romanian flag colored ass!!

Merci R35

Good thing there's always Greyhound!

Unless I'm 17 years old again or trying to escape a rapidly escalating war zone, I don't see myself staying in an airport for most of a week.

Steven really IS cute, R21. I love it when he and Joe Fryer anchor NBC Morning News Now together. Steven looks better natural and not made-up for TV!

Both Steven and Joe are so comfortable and natural being openly gay - unlike so many others in the media.

R49 = Yeah...Steven looks twinkish at the airport. Cutie.

i'm traveling over the holidays and there's a winter storm!

what could go wrong?!

I love the people on here excusing Pete for his ineptitude, you know if it had been a Trump appointee dealing with it they would be up on arms over this level of failure. I'm a dem but even I can see when my side is lacking.

This is a corporate failure and not a failure on the industry as a whole. I am dumbfounded that Southwest does not seem to be even trying to fix this mess.

How is Pete inept ??????

[quote] Southwest passengers at BWI have no flights until New Year’s Eve

It could be worse. They could be stuck at Franz Kafka Airport in Prague.

Steven Romo is anchoring solo on NBC Morning News Now - talking about his trip with his husband. Morning News Now repeats at 8am if you want to check it out.

[quote]Passengers Stuck In Airports Until New Year's Eve

To me it has always been blazingly obvious that "I'll be home for xmas" means "I will be staying home for xmas."

Part of the problem is that everyone "goes home" for Christmas and bails at the earliest possible minute—flying back on the 26th or 27th.

If you hate "home" so much you can't wait to leave, maybe stay where you are and make your own Christmas?

I made that policy 20 years ago and have never regretted it. The amount of stress I've avoided has added years to my life.

Sounds like they’re all too cheap to pay for hotel rooms. If you’re that broke, stay home.

"I'm a dem but even I can see when my side is lacking."

If I had a god damned dime every time some Republican hack clown posted shit like this on DL, I'd be a fucking millionaire.

Republicans are the ones who deregulated the airline industry in the Reagan era.

Now they're blaming Biden's government for not exercising authority they took away?

Fucking typical.

Once upon a time, SW was a good well run company, but now they're the Walmart of the skys. While it's true that this is a corporate failure, it's also the failure of congress to pass meaningful legislation giving passengers rights and holding airlines accountable for how they treat their customers.

They started out as Walmart and now they're Dollar Tree. This failure is due to their business model. No interline agreements with other airlines and no hub cities with aircraft and maintenance backup.

You know this when you buy your 29 dollar ticket. All these "poor people" should have stayed home or go back to their relatives house to wait it out.

Also, their planes are ugly, dirty , the employees are trained in "Luv Culture" (vomit) and during the boarding process you can almost hear the moos.

Whadda ya expect?

Hotels at the airports are probably full.

Unless you're going overseas...

[quote] I love the people on here excusing Pete for his ineptitude

Then tell us what is Pete suppose to do?

I did read anecdotes about people renting cars and driving from Indiana to Arizona and the like. I wouldn’t want to be stuck that long in a car with a bunch of strangers, but I’m not a people person. Southwest has been around forever but it’s probably wise to stick with the heirloom carriers like Delta, American or United.

First world problems…

I am a selfish pig who flew home on southwest to mommy and daddy so I can get a home cooked meal and collect presents my adult ass doesn’t deserve. Now I’m posting my ass silly on the socials because southwest computers are old and they’ve cancelled my flight home.

The few times I've ever flow on Southwest it all starts well with the pricing, but if you don't book many months in advance (for a non-holiday travel period) it starts to get expensive and then by the time fees and charges and taxes are applied it cost not $29 but a few hundred dollars to take a round-trip of 1.5 hours of flight each way. The bargain end of it never worked out for me in long-term planning no more than in last moment flights when it was the best option to get me someplace in a hurry.

And a budget company with no interline relationships...having to pay for five nights hotel lodging (if you can find it) or booking a flight on another airline (if you can find one) is going to make the idea that your flight was $29 laughable.

R62 Airlines were deregulated in 1978, under the presidency of a peanut farmer who was very much NOT a Republican, and a Congress that was even less so.

[quote] Then tell us what is Pete suppose to do?

He should round up some planes and personally fly the stranded passengers back to their homes.

[quote] He should round up some planes and personally fly the stranded passengers back to their homes.

Since the airlines are having problems recruiting pilots, where does he get these pilots?

Couldn't we just bus them all to Greg Abbot's house?

[quote]This is the end for this airline company.

It's not. Southwest has no checked baggage fees, which is why 80% of people fly them.

[quote] where does he get these pilots?

What pilots? Pete should step up to the plate and fly the passengers back himself. And maybe Chasten could transport some of them by car.

And Pete should pay for all the jet fuel out of his own pocket and not expect to be reimbursed.

And Pete should pay for blackjack. And hookers.

In fact, forget about the jet fuel and the blackjack!

Flying today is a total crapshoot. You could fly Southwest and 97% of the time you'd get there on-time without a problem. Just so happens that this week is when they had a meltdown. Next month it could be Delta or Spirit. Every airline runs into problems from time to time, and some deal with it better than others. These companies are competitive businesses, and you can choose to fly on whichever one meets your needs best. Bottomline is that most people buy their tickets based strictly on price, and that's unlikely to change anytime soon.

Southwest really isn't THAT cheap unless you catch a sale or book far in advance. I'm not saying it's crazy expensive otherwise, but those advertised fares aren't always available unless you time it just right and are going to very specific places.

I've hardly ever had a problem with Southwest. It's all just luck - normally. Having a storm during a heavy travel time is bad luck - for you and the airline. Structural inefficiency and janky computer systems are bad luck for you; a choice for the airlines.

There's no way this is the "end" of Southwest. People are fucking cheap and will always look for the best deal on paper (not all people, but MANY). Obviously some of those people have to be cheap because they don't have a lot of discretionary money, while others are just cheap because it's part of the culture - the thrill of the deal, the thrill of the sale, having more money left over to consume other things, weird guilt about spending too much.

A lot of rubes just like the idea of free checked bags, and the illusion of a simple fare.

[quote] Covid has nothing to do with this shit storm.

This is actually correct in the case of Southwest. Southwest pilots and flight attendants are sitting in airports and hotels just waiting to be told where to fly. Read what this pilot is saying: “We literally have crews sleeping on the airport floors all over the country with nowhere to go. Crews have been calling to fly anyone, anywhere, but the company says the system needs a reset. They have effectively shut down the operations for the rest of year, running 1/3 of the flights so that they can let the computer find and locate the crews and aircraft.”

Southwest has some advantages like free checked bags, and all their seats have slightly more legroom than the basic coach seats on other airlines. They also have many nonstop flights from medium-sized cities, where you'd usually have to make a connection through a hub on American or Delta. They've also never had change fees, while the other airlines all charged $200+ to change your ticket... now post-pandemic, the others have all gotten rid of change fees so that is no longer a competitive advantage for SWA.

[quote]There’s only so much power the Secretary of Transportation has.

Isn't this always the go-to excuse people make for public officials? Whenever some governement program fails I always hear it. "There's only so much power the President has."

R13 Make the bad, arctic, nationwide snowstorm go away!

[quote]Isn't this always the go-to excuse people make for public officials? Whenever some governement program fails I always hear it. "There's only so much power the President has."

In case you didn't know, the US Government has separation of powers by design. No one person or branch is supposed to have un-checked power. It's one of the things that saved us from having a moron like Donald Trump steal an election he lost and stay in power.

R64 I don’t follow airline business practices but what do you mean they have no hubs with backup maintenance? SW hubs are all over Texas - are you saying that Houston Hobby Airport or Dallas Love Field don’t have SW maintenance crews? Sincere question.

I'd rather be stuck in an airport than trapped in a Katrina-esque blizzard

Are we this bald-headed hussy didn't have a hand in this? Pete needs to investigate this hoe

R89 Southwest uses "focus cities," rather than hubs. They have a few light hangars around the country, but they actually do most of their deeper aircraft maintenance in Central America. Honduras and Panama. It's cheaper.

If United needs a few spare planes, they can call up the SFO base and have a few under-repair planes cleaned up and sent back into the field. If a plane needs servicing in a hurry, they can route it through a hub city and have a swarm clean it between flights. If they need fresh pilots or stews, they can route through one of their pilot base cities. They have a network for solving problems.

Southwest has virtually none of this. Their spare planes - few that they own - are in Honduras missing an engine and half the seats. Their business model depends on keeping ALL planes in the air to squeeze out profits, so they don't really have a spare ratio. They don't have a hub through which they can send planes to get cleaned, re-crewed, etc. Their planes are scattered all over, and without an interline or deadhead agreement, it's going to be goddamned difficult to get pilots living in Baltimore or Houston to a stranded plane in Rapid City that needs new pilots.

R82 being a cheap ass is a mental disorder

Gee, if only there were a couple of humanitarians in Montecito who could possibly help out some of those stranded in CA.

[quote]but they actually do most of their deeper aircraft maintenance in Central America. Honduras and Panama. It's cheaper.

That is very concerning.

Where is Karen Black when you need her??

R95 = Susan Collins (R)

[quote]r26 I wonder how many hot stranded men have introduced themselves to each other and have already ended up having sex with each other in the men's room ? If those walls could talk...

We should descend on the airport with sandwiches, cocoa, and blankets to cuddle under - anything to help those poor boys.

I will set up a small tent with a trail of cookies leading to the opening…mine!

Stuck in the mud

Your self sacrificing nature is admirable R98.

[quote]R99 Stuck in the mud

I will thank you not to refer to my opening that way.

[quote]what is Pete suppose to do?

Oh, dear!

[quote]maybe Chasten could transport some of them by car.

To be fair, like most suburban housewives, he only has a minivan.

R103 How old are you? Housewives haven't been minivan drivers for 20 years.

The only ones who still drive minivans are elderly couples and Indian/Chinese families who only ever buy Honda.

r98, YES! Drag Queen Travelers Aid (insert joke). All of us have an extra pillow/blanket/workout mat to donate to the cause. With all the bad publicity we receive , what with all the blood drinking and grooming , we could use some good PR (insert joke).

Bless your heart, r104.

No, really, just bless it.

R17 - oh that's coming for sure. Youtube is ready and waiting for all those uploads.

Poor choice to go on vacation during one of the most severe winter storms ever.

[quote]R105 Drag Queen Travelers Aid (insert joke). All of us have an extra pillow/blanket/workout mat to donate to the cause.

Yes. And our mission statement will be, “During these troubling holidays, amidst this airport chaos, can’t we all just put our clothes aside and fuck each other?”

R108 Who's on vacation? They're visiting their idiot relatives for Christmas.

[quote]This cutie got stranded too. He rented a car with three other strangers and drove home to Ohio.

I would've given that guy a free ride anywhere he wanted to go!

I'm old enough to remember when the founder of SW Airlines, Herbert T Kelleher ran a tight ship and the flight attendants were friendly and helpful, and yes they were definitely a budget airline, but they were helpful and very customer oriented. I am shocked at this situation. Herb (a good Democrat) would be turning over in his grave.

did you smoke him?

More flights have been cancelled

[quote]First world problems…

[quote]I am a selfish pig who flew home on southwest to mommy and daddy so I can get a home cooked meal and collect presents my adult ass doesn’t deserve. Now I’m posting my ass silly on the socials because southwest computers are old and they’ve cancelled my flight home.

^^just because your mother reminded you daily that you should've been an abortion doesn't mean that people who actually come from close, loving families shouldn't be able to celebrate Christmas with them and receive presents.

not in a storm, cuntessa!

There's a storm every year, cunt.

every xmas there's a major storm?

a cuntarded idiot you are.

wish you had frozen in a car.

FWIW, I saw a few SWA flights landing in Austin today.

Any passengers on them R119?

r118 your mom still wishes you were an abortion

well, pull out the ouija board and ask.

and you are still an idiot festering cunt.

r122 your mom is communicating from the other side. She still regrets not aborting you. Miserable piece of shit.

i'm a happy one calling out dumbfucks on dl.

she would have done the same.

storm? travel? bad idea? wth is your thinking?

you are some fetid karen. i smell it thru the internets.

I got home smoothly on Allegiant today, which flies from Mesa, AZ (Phoenix's second airport). I lucked out since I more often than not take Southwest to Phoenix.

Look, I am not a Pete hater. But he couldn't pick up a phone and at least asked the airlines if there were going to be problems back in November? Good managers are proactive and not reactive, which is what Pete has always been. And yes I know Pete could not have predicted the storm. I have always had a problem with Buttigieg not pushing a No Fly List for airlines either.

THis is about PEte as much as it is about something that was overlooked across all government agencies. the fact is the pandemic hit us in ways we are still recovering from. Every single agency should have done some kind of assessment and discussed measures to be taken to figure out how to deal with things. Southwest and other airlines cut back because of travel restrictions and it had an impact.

A short video of your rights if a plane gets cancelled or your baggage gets lost.

[quote]But he couldn't pick up a phone and at least asked the airlines if there were going to be problems back in November?

Oh FFS. 🙄🙄🤦‍♂️

Another Cute guy stuck at the airport!!

If miss thing at r130 can afford a Barbour jacket, he can afford to pay for a hotel.

As someone else noted, it's SW currently losing their shit, but didn't this happen to American Airlines (2 Christmases ago?).

That's where some kind of meaningful legislation is required: you paid for a service and at the last minute or mid-transit, the airline basically said "fuck you, we can't deliver." There will always be bad weather, sick personnel, malfunctioning technical systems, but the provider can't just throw up their hands in the air & do nothing. I don't blame Pete, it's a bigger problem than Pete, but if he has lofty aspirations (and he does), he needs to at least propose a plan to address and/or mitigate these situations in the future.

[quote]I read that travelers with nothing to do are examining luggage tags for phone numbers and then texting the bag's owner with the location. Nice!

[quote]A lot of rubes just like the idea of free checked bags

Loving the checked-luggage stories/commentary. This thread = erotica

This is all Biden's fault! And appointing a Gay like Pete is Biden's fault and the blizzard is Biden's fault. All that lost luggage.This is just to distract us from Hunter's laptop. If the people of Ukraine want to blame someone blame Hunter Biden for the war. All Putin wanted was Hunter's laptop to watch porn and Zelensky refused to release it. Fuck Biden. He is responsible for at least 55 dead people.

[quote]If miss thing at [R130] can afford a Barbour jacket, he can afford to pay for a hotel.

You really think it’s a matter of money? With thousands of people stranded, you think hotel rooms are hanging the “vacancy” shingles out front?

The right is desperately trying to spin this as Biden’s Katrina.

Where’s Brownie? Is he still doing a helluva job?

R136 That's pathetic. This is a single airline melting down due to their own incompetence.

Good gravy, no wonder these rubes believe the Earth was created in six days.

The righties throw everything at Biden and the Dems and hope that something sticks

More SW flights canceled today

Per the discussion about the American consumer. I'm assuming Roderic Hister is drunk, high, or both and has found a modicum of peace.

"Some passengers were taking all of this in stride.

Several people at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport spoke to CNN's Nick Valencia on Thursday about their travel experiences with Southwest this holiday season.

"I mean, it's just par for the course. This is flight travel, everyone's trying to get everywhere at the same time. Unfortunately, Southwest took the brunt of this year's travel unfortunate situation," Roderic Hister told CNN.

When asked what he thought about the lack of lines at the Southwest counters at the airport, Hister said: "Maybe speaks to the improvements that they're trying to make, because there's not long lines, people aren't here complaining. So, maybe you know, the efforts to redeem themselves are working."

Winston Williams, standing near Hister, said he intends to still use the airline in the future.

"I like Southwest. I mean, the bags are free," Williams said.

Sounds like their central computer system completely crashed.

That could massively fuck up logistics.

[quote] Sounds like their central computer system completely crashed.

No need to worry. They're fixing the computer system and getting everything back up and running.

Airport restroom. Ready to blow a 3-day load.

Sorry, not sorry. That's what you get for flying on a white trash MAGA airline

You're wrong, R145. SW is not even close to being a MAGA airline.

Hope everyone can get home safe before the next weather event.

Southwest had 7 billion+ in bailout money and they didn't use it to upgrade their systems. They used it to make more money and reimburse stockholders. Ro Khanna and Bernie Sanders (among others) urged the Secretary of Transportation (who is such a big favorite on DL, and unqualified for that position in the government) to impose regulations on the airlines. This huge travel debacle is an incredible fail, storm or no storm. This is end-stage capitalism and either the government takes back the reigns or we're all going to go through things like this from now on. Don't normalize it.

[quote]either the government takes back the reigns

Oh, dear!

Who is normalizing it? One airline (ONE!) among all the other airlines who were also in the storm had a disastrous response to it. No other airline had as many problems as SW. They deserve fines and derision.

R49 People who care more about incorrect spelling than that their civilization is crumbling around them...are the luckiest people in the world.

[quote]They deserve fines and derision.

R150 How about more than fines and derision? Especially derision - who cares? There are regulations in place that need to be heavily enforced.

Such as?

Southwest Airlines is OVAH

If the SW name suffers, it will ultimately merge with another airline or just change its name.

Spirit was named something else before and had a few crashes. It just changed its name to Spirit and kept going

R155 Spirit has actually never had a crash or fatal accident, dating back to its first commercial flights under its old name in 1990.

Maybe you're thinking of AirTran, formerly ValuJet, which had a sloppy safety record even before a high-profile crash in 1996. They did go through a few name changes, and they were bought out by...Southwest.

Yes, thinking of AirTran

I wonder how the truly cheap cunts of DL travel - assuming they can afford to fly.

How do you Eldergays pack off your caftans and bronzer for a long weekend in New Orleans or Fort Lauderdale? Do you go Spirit and gawk at the trash you're secretly a part of? Do you have an old flame named Terry or Dillon who works for Southwest and hooks you up with companion passes in return for some handsy action? Or do you go Greyhound, and just HOPE that your wigs don't get smushed or snatched at the layover in Dallas?

[quote] This is end-stage capitalism and either the government takes back the reigns or we're all going to go through things like this from now on. Don't normalize it.

Don’t try and normalize communism and we won’t try and normalize capitalism.

Not calling you evil or anything but at least be upfront about what you’re pushing.

Southwest probably has the rights to the ValuJet name, via their acquisition of AirTran. They should definitely rebrand as ValuJet.