Southwest Airlines is in full meltdown…this is no hyperbole when the carrier is talking about canceling 2/3 of its flights for the rest of 2022. Let’s look at how Southwest is publicly and privately addressing its operational collapse.
Southwest Airlines Public Response To Meltdown: It’s The Bad Weather
In a note posted on its website and disseminated through various social media outlets, Southwest Airlines blamed its operational problems on extreme winter weather. While it insists it was fully-staffed and prepared for the winter storm, it notes that its “tools” have been unable to recover from the poor weather:
With consecutive days of extreme winter weather across our network behind us, continuing challenges are impacting our Customers and Employees in a significant way that is unacceptable.
And our heartfelt apologies for this are just beginning.
We’re working with Safety at the forefront to urgently address wide-scale disruption by rebalancing the airline and repositioning Crews and our fleet ultimately to best serve all who plan to travel with us.
We were fully staffed and prepared for the approaching holiday weekend when the severe weather swept across the continent, where Southwest is the largest carrier in 23 of the top 25 travel markets in the U.S. These operational conditions forced daily changes to our flight schedule at a volume and magnitude that still has the tools our teams use to recover the airline operating at capacity.
This safety-first work is intentional, ongoing, and necessary to return to normal reliability, one that minimizes last-minute inconveniences. As we continue the work to recover our operation, we have made the decision to continue operating a reduced schedule by flying roughly one third of our schedule for the next several days. And we’re working to reach Customers whose travel plans will change to offer specific information and available options, also available at Southwest.com/traveldisruption.
Our Employees and Crews scheduled to work this holiday season are showing up in every single way. We are beyond grateful for that. Our shared goal is to take care of every single Customer with the Hospitality and Heart for which we’re known.
On the other side of this, we’ll work to make things right for those we’ve let down, including our Employees.
With no concern higher than ultimate Safety, the People of Southwest share a goal to take care of each and every Customer. We recognize falling short and sincerely apologize.
Here, Southwest unequivocally apologies, but places the blame on the weather. Yet while many carriers struggled over the weekend, all faced similar weather conditions and none suffered a collapse on the level of Southwest (though Alaska Airlines came close).
Southwest Airlines Private Response To Meltdown: It’s Our Bad Crew Scheduling Technology
In a leaked call transcript to employees shared by aviation insider JonNYC, Southwest CEO Bob Jordan blamed its problems on its aging systems, lamenting that its antiquated systems made it impossible to efficiently reschedule displaced crew members across the country. Here is the most important part of his call:
“And, so when we finished with the winter storm, for the most part, then we found ourselves with crew at a place where we’re not able to re-crew the network. So, we had people that were legal. We had aircraft that were available, but the process of matching up those crew members with the aircraft could not be handled by our technology. In our desired state, we have a solver that would be able to do that very quickly and very accurately. Our system today cannot do that.”
As a result, Southwest Airlines plans to cancel roughly 2/3 of its flights every day for the remainder of 2022 (the next five days) or until it can sort out its crew positioning issues.
Here’s the full transcript:
Hey there, Southwest Airlines. Bob Jordan here. I know I sent you an update last night and Andrew [Watterson, Southwest’s COO] here has updated you all several times. But I wanted to give you more info on where we are today.
First, I know it’s very tough out there. We’ve had another very tough day today in the operation. And there are several more days ahead of us in all likelihood. Andrew will talk more about how we got here and the causes. But I just wanted to talk to you about number one: an acknowledgment that it is very difficult. I know that you all are working very hard. The circumstances are very difficult. The impact on our Customers is very difficult.
I know some of the things that you’re seeing don’t make any sense–like you’ve got a missing crew member and there’s somebody over here that could potentially fly the aircraft or take that spot and long hold times into Crew Scheduling. We’ll go through why that is, but just know that we know all those things and it’s part of working through the solution. You’ve got to stay, obviously, legal with our crews.
We’ve got to stay safe. We’ve got to work through solutions. Here’s what we’re doing next- we’re going to dramatically decrease the schedule the next several days. There will be a bridge from today to tomorrow to get there, but that’ll give us the best shot at getting the network reset, our crews reset-just taking some of the pressure off the system. Obviously, that’ll have even more impact on our customers. So that’ll be going out tonight. But we’ve got to get out of this. We’ve got to get to the point where we are reliable and we get our customers, our crews, our aircraft, everything back on track.
We’ve talked a little bit over the last year about the need to modernize the operation and invest. This is why. We can’t be our size and scope and have a lack of tools. So, you’ll be hearing even more about how we invest to fix the issues that confront us as an airline. But, Andrew, why don’t you talk for just a couple of minutes about how did we get here, why is this different for us versus somebody else?
Yes, so we started off with the Winter Storm Elliott that really put pressure on our ground operations. The extreme cold weather made us limit the amount of time our ground operations staff were exposed. We started to see equipment freeze, jet bridges freeze, fuel congeal, and as a result, we had to modify our network, sometimes shutting down crew bases operations for a while. And, so we got through that part of it. I think similar to other airlines.
The problem was in all those decisions, you end up impacting the crew network. And the crew network is a delicate thing because it’s governed by some strict regulations, and we have a complex network with crews traveling throughout it. And, so when we finished with the winter storm, for the most part, then we found ourselves with crew at a place where we’re not able to re-crew the network. So, we had people that were legal. We had aircraft that were available, but the process of matching up those crew members with the aircraft could not be handled by our technology. In our desired state, we have a solver that would be able to do that very quickly and very accurately. Our system today cannot do that.
As a result, we had to ask our Crew Schedulers to do this manually, and it’s extraordinarily difficult. They must verify that you are legal. They can’t just have the next person up, so to speak. They have to look through everyone’s board and reassign. So that is a tedious, long process. And every day we try to repair the Crew network. They would make great progress, and then some other disruption would happen, and it would unravel their work. So, we spent multiple days where we kind of got close to finishing the problem, and then it had to be reset. And so now is our latest plan because the last one last night did not work. We had a bad, awful day today.
We will now rotate into multiple days of a lower level of activity, which means we’ll have more than ample Crew resources to handle that amount of activity. It will be difficult for Crew Scheduling to reassign it for everybody, but when they get through that transition to reassign it, they will have multiple days to get People in the spot for resumption of our original lines and such. And so that’s here we need to get back to – what’s the most reliable is getting back to what you originally did and so, these multiple days are a way to transition into that.
All right, Andrew. Hey, thank you. It’s complex, as you can tell. I just want to leave you with a couple of things. Number one: nothing trumps safety. You’ve got to be safe and we are safe and just know that we won’t do anything to violate that. Number two: know that it’s complex. But we’ve got all hands-on deck.
You’ve got armies of folks working on the solutions. The detailed task as Andrew discussed. So, it’s all hands-on deck to work our way out of this. Next, it’s going to take a more dramatic action, which is this reduction of the schedule which will have impacts on our Customers especially. So, you’ll see that, but we will get out of this. that we won’t do anything to violate that. Number two: know that it’s complex. But we’ve got all hands-on deck.
Southwest is a great Company. There’s no doubt that this is someplace we’ve not been before. This is a very tough place to be, but we will get out of it, and we will focus on our tools, our processes. Winning our Customers back, winning you back and making sure that we are reliable and stable.
At last, just know that even in a difficult time, I hope you know that we appreciate you. We love you all. I know it’s hard and it’s hard to feel, but I’m telling you, we love you. We care about you and appreciate you more than we can tell you. And we’ll get through it. Thank you all. And I’ll be back to update you all more in the next few days.
Certainly Southwest was never going to be as detailed in its public statement versus its private discussion over the meltdown, but here we see the storm itself may have started the avalanche, but the main problem is not winter weather, but ancient technology that simply cannot handle a high degree of bad weather.
CONCLUSION
Publicly, Southwest is blaming its meltdown on bad weather. But while bad weather certainly contributed to the collapse, its pre-existing conditions, namely its antiquated crew scheduling technology (perhaps the same system that cannot accommodate redeye flights) is the real culprit for the mass delays and cancellations this week.
What do you think about Southwest Airlines’ meltdown response?
image: Southwest Airlines
Great to see our taxpayer money went to assuring a reliable system of air travel. Where do I apply for a refund?
Exactly why most intelligent people use every LEGAL loophole and deduction to pay as little as possible in FIT and don’t feel bad about it.
After canceling my flight around Christmas time and missing my family time I had to rebook 2 more flights even more expensive than what Southwest was. I asked for a refund. 8 days later I got a call telling me they need more information and to call a number to speak to someone. I call the number and now it’s an hour wait and then after their music plays you just get cut off. I call back and now it’s a 2 to 3 hour wait.Southwest sucks. How do you get your refund?
Good article with insight into the real issues.
Agreed
CEO and VP of IT need to go do a shift on the frontlines and get a healthy dose of what their employees are going through.
My wife and I escaped the Denver airport on December 24 via rental car and drove 19 hours to get home. What we witnessed at the Denver airport on the night of the 23rd was appalling. SWA executives made the decision to allow plane after plane to land in Denver on the 23rd, knowing no one was getting out of there. Elderly people, people in wheelchairs, and families with young children were left with no services, no communication, and no way out. The sham of the “rebooking” process (stand in line for 3-5 hours) was disingenuous-the rebooked flight had no chance and they knew that. As formidable as it is to envision, a class action lawsuit is entirely appropriate to address the degree of mismanagement exhibited by SWA decision-makers these past days.
There are costs to low-fare airlines. This is what happens when people only shop based on price….
WN stopped being a “low fare” airline years ago as they moved up prices to match frequency and the Big Three lowered costs to meet them in the middle. They are no more a low fare airline than United or American. WN as low fare is all halo effect from years ago when they actually were…during the Herb years.
Agree 100%
Stopped flying with them years ago when I noticed that. Thanks for confirming my belief.
The “Herb years” were the best. Got to have dinner with him when Hubby was employed with SWA. He was definitely larger than life kind of guy. ✈️
So agree. In many ways WN just rides on what’s left of the amazing presence he had. But it’s sadly fading. It proves as well that one person’s personality, character and drive can truly capture the consciousness of the public and make an entire company. His style and approach has inspired me for years. With my own business when making decisions I often reflect, “What would Herb have done?”
No, there are still relics of their low cost airline history present, including the absence of interline ticketing agreements and failure to keep up with IT needs.
That’s not low fare. That’s lack of pride or quality in their operations. It’s low care.
There a technology gap in crew scheduling: did the CIO request funding to upgrade the system? Or was it denied?
BTW: Apple should be swamping the news shows (lost luggage) with AirTag commercials.
Just landed in Denver on United and passed the SW baggage area and it’s an epic fecal festival. I flew UA back from AZ because it was less expensive than SWA and so thankful I did.
I understand this story came from Jon the Kogut lover, but hypothetically if you were the one getting a leak of a private business conversation, what would you do?
Not a judgement on you, as a reporter/blogger, what at what point should there be an investigation into who is leaking this private information? And if you were disposed or subpoenaed would you protect the source?
In this situation dozens of employees with a beef with their company all immediately ran to release the information. But at other times information that shouldn’t get out is released.
Just goes to show, never trust your employees or members of a Union with sensitive information.
I’ve mentioned it before, and while it is a different issue than SW’s antiquated scheduling software, it is part and parcel of the same simplistic mindset–Southwest bears much of the blame for the 737MAX fiasco. Their stupid insistence on wanting to purchase absolutely nothing more than new, but at the same time obsolete, 737’s lies at the root of the MAX disaster. Boeing still must bear the majority of the blame though, for listening to Southwest too much and allowing them sway their decision, and for totally screwing up the implementation of the MAX. Imagine what could have been if Boeing had instead prevailed on Southwest to accept an updated version of the 757 instead.
I think the government should fine SW $100 for every passenger delayed by 4 hours or more, and $200 for every passenger that suffered a canceled flight.
Do I hear $300? Comments like this are what companies use to throw a wrench in attempts to regulation. Once you start just making stuff up and calling it fair is the moment corporate clowns are off the hook. Fair is always a losing argument in seeking economic retribution. If you were ambushed by southwest this week, it sucks. Southwest may or may not do something for you. It is in their court The scope of government to fix problems is largely limited to future behavior. Keep your eye on the ball. Future protections are your best outcome.
Leaders lead from the front and take ownership.
Bob did not.
You can reach him at bob.jordan@wnco.com or 214-792-5053 (goes to VM). Emailed opened, no response.
Andrew Watterson (COO) – andrew.watterson@wnco.com – Again, opened, no response.
I received a call from Jerod Boone (verified on LinkedIn), calling from CEO’s office Bob Jordan. I spoke with Jerod for 20 minutes venting my frustrations after leaving Bob a handful of what would be considered “politically incorrect” messages and a terse email.
Interesting enough, Bob disabled the ability to send him messages on LinkedIn. Also, note their email address- its to prevent an additional layer of security for people to reach out to them.
They confirmed the location of my luggage. It looks my flight is good to go for Thursday evening?
Who the hell knows at this point.
The pain and suffering these guys caused on millions of people, their grief, their feelings and missed holiday parties are just the beginning. You guys have no idea the repercussions this will have not only on Southwest itself, but rather on the industry as a whole. The result of such an incompetent management team and team members as well, will put the survival of this company in jeopardy. Not only are we talking about class action lawsuits from the clients themselves, ranging from PTS and mental duress, but also the clients alone deserting this carrier. They WILL stop flying southwest, just wait and see. United is already licking its chops at DEN and ORD waiting for those clients to jump in and never look back. The clients themselves will take care of southwest and it won’t be pretty. People fly when they need to reliably get somewhere on time. That’s why they fly. Southwest wasn’t available when its clients relied on them the most.
UA is absolutely loving what’s happening to WN at DEN. UA was actually afraid at what WN was doing over there. Now that DEN is one of the most affected airports during the meltdown, there’s going to be a lot of people reviving their old loyalty to United. And for those that are price-sensitive, there’s always Frontier. At ORD, though…not really. WN’s only been there for a little less than two years and hasn’t had the impact you’d think from the Southwest Effect. Besides, they’re in Terminal 5 with the ULCCs, Delta, and international departures and they don’t have too many gates to their own. For UA, it’s out of sight, out of mind.
This is correct
Yet another reason not to fly with them.
Wow. If only Herb Kelleher were alive to see this! Southwest brought this on themselves. They’ve seen me for the last time. My guess is that “Pistol Pete Buttigieg” is going to put the screws to them.
“Pistol Pete” only takes it from what is common knowledge. He’s not putting the screws to anyone.
Probably on vacation again, as he has been during every transportation event during his position he only has because he checked off the boxes.
Horrible individual who should be given a 6 pack of dild#s and sent back to South Bend (over).
If he comes down hard on them he’s a moron who is in over his head and is going to damage a precious business, and if he does nothing he’s useless and clueless. How fun being a keyboard warrior with no solutions
That’s what happens when you hire “friends” based on their political views and sexual identity instead of QUALIFICATIONS. Even the freak Levine at least was a Dr in the past.
And I will say that on both sides. What did this guy do in the past to get this job? I’ll wait for an answer.
He worked at McKinsey. You make it sound as if he graduated from high school and became Sec. of Transportation. While I’m not necessarily a fan of McKinsey’s double dealing and will work for anybody ethos, I’ll take a McKinsey worker over a washed-up reality TV star who can barely say “You’re Fired” without cue cards. Be honest, would Chao have handled this any better?
Pete said on NBC News tonight that he is going to hold the airlines accountable https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxeNvYjk-7A
Pete on the PBS NewsHour https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWP6KmTg9iQ
Our direct flight from Denver to Albany, NY was cancelled Monday after we got to DEN. Booked another direct flight to Boston and that one was cancelled after we checked our bags.
Both flights should have been cancelled on Saturday or Sunday. They knew they had a problem and should not have waited until Monday to cut 1/3 of the flights.
Southwest should start making things right by offering full refunds for cancelled flights, not just the standard option to use the fund within a year of booking. And that is only a starting point to make up for what they have put people through. Monday at DEN we saw lines of people that must have been 50 yards or more at check-in. Kiosks were not working to check bags.
Families with kids and tons of luggage waiting in line. When we got to the gates more long lines of people.
I have had Preferred Plus status on Southwest for years, I have enjoyed their model of reasonably spaced seats, free bags, and excellent service. I traveled every week for work for months at a time with few delays. Southwest is NOT a discount airline and has not been for years. My company has booked me in claustrophobic seats on American that were cheaper than Southwest, I actually often pay more to fly Southwest for my personal travel.
Up until yesterday I have loved flying Southwest and hope they can recover.
I believe it will take some drastic measures to do so. “Up to and including termination” as they say in HR. Resignations are in order.
The information is not that sensitive. SWA had a meltdown. Their systems suck. This was all well know in advance.
When this happened at JetBlue, heads rolled. Will it happen at SWA? It should.
Glad to see $70 billion in tax payer dollars was put towards its intended use. Just anther data point that Congress hates the American people -= they don’t care how much they spend or what it is spent on. They will all be dead and gone when the bill comes due for your children and grandchildren.
When Congress comes back from their extended vacation. There may be some hot air about this but the fact remains that Congress will never cross one of their favored union industries. The most that will happen is a sternly worded press release from the useless and clueless Transportation Secretary.
If this is due to antiquated staffing systems then maybe it’s not necessarily weather related and WN should be issuing refunds and covering hotel and other travel costs for the millions of passengers they stranded…
At the very least, this is why airlines shouldn’t have discretion over when a flight issue is weather-related or not. This may have started due to the storm, but the complete collapse of WN’s operations is clearly their fault for maximizing shareholder returns at the expense of operational reliability to an extreme degree. There should be consequences when such a situation is possible if an airline cuts costs too much, and they do so anyways. WN shareholders should be the ones on the hook for this disaster, not the customers or employees. Shareholders shouldn’t be able to keep sucking companies dry through dividends and stock buybacks funded by layoffs and cost-cutting and lose nothing when their greed led to this mess in the first place.
LUV down 6% for the day on the NYSE. I’ll be interested to see its performance tomorrow as this walking nightmare continues.
In respect to the self-inflicted wound at Southwest, look to the Board itself to determine why such critical systems were not properly updated. Either it was a play to Wall Street to massage the numbers to look good by avoiding such major expenses, or, like Amtrak’s Board, they lack the requisite experience to be competent stewards to demand accountability.
Speaking of Amtrak, the impact of an inexperienced Board compounded by a corporate management lacking the requisite railroad experience explains its massive failure during this holiday season. Despite requesting and taking multi-millions from the feds to retain its seasoned staff, instead the decision was made to buy-out or lay-off so many critical operating staff that Amtrak has yet to be at full strength. The inexperience of corporate management, apparently unaccountable to a ghost Board, also failed to retain its seasoned maintenance staff to ensure equipment would be serviced and ready to roll; thus, forcing to this day annulments and shortened consists. Yet, the same corporate management, including counsel, were rewarded with excessive bonuses.
Without a doubt, Southwest, like Amtrak, will find such bad decisions will cost far more than making the correct decision.
Amtrak better hope the Gateway project is completed before one or both of the existing Hudson River tunnels are rendered inoperable. Massive nightmare waiting to happen in the northeast. Would cause insane traffic gridlock in the tristate.
The BOD system for almost all Fortune 500 companies is totally broken in the US. No CEO wants a board that provides any actual over site or guidance—rather they all want a rubber stamp board. The other thing is all the CEO’s sit on each other’s boards, and honor the unspoken agreement to rubber stamp anything the CEO wants. The only thing they are good at is constantly increasing each other’s compensation.
Herb Kelleher is rolling over in his grave. #firebobjordan. Us DOJ is going to end up doing a consent decree whereby SWA is going to have to reduce capacity by 15 to 20 percent for 12 to 18 months with NO new market allowed for 12 to 18 months like happened with Wells Fargo. This is from my college roommate who worked on the Wells Fargo case
There are so many incredible people who work for Southwest. They are so passionate and dedicated. And they take great pride in a reliable, safe operation. For so many of my travels, I choose Southwest because I know that the flight will be clean, safe, and punctual.
But that all faded. As one assistant station manager put it to me, “This isn’t the airline where I started.” The “LUV” factor isn’t there anymore. Passengers are furious, planes are stranded. And that was before the Christmas catastrophe.
What I noticed is a change in attitude. There are still some remarkably kind and clever staff, but Southwest now feels like the erstwhile United: jilted and uncaring staff, snippy and schoolmarmish announcements, one feels like a felon.
But the greatest insult is that the fares are extraordinary. I am due to fly on Southwest tomorrow (have no fear, I have a backup ticket on American.) A simple mid-country flight was $1400 round trip. My friends and colleagues have had the same experience. That’s not “wanna get away” love; that’s extortion.
Southwest lost its appeal. For $1400 on United or American, I could have lounge access, possibly first class, something to eat, and the outside chance that the crew would be kind.
There is the old quote from Bob Crandall that customers look at three factors: the fare, the fare, and the fare. No. When the fare is this high, I expect something resembling organization and preparedness.
As for tomorrow, we’ll see what happens. I know not to call, not to wait in a queue, and I’m always kind (I think) to staff. The airlines are all hiring with generous bonuses. I hope that the once enthusiastic and energetic SWA staff find meaningful and gainful work at other airlines.
As for those in Dallas, they should be ashamed. This was predictable, preventable, and a profit-driven nightmare that has alienated customers and employees alike. When Spirit and Allegiant look like better choices, they have to clean up their act. Fast.
What other systems are failing at Southwest? Is it safe to fly? How could anyone trust them? These are reasonable questions.
Working for Southwest was always one of my dreams years ago. They always had such high employee sat as the luv airline. My how things have changed. Sometimes we don’t know what we are protected from.
Southwest TWU union stated FA’s were on hold with crew scheduling for 17 hours https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMlBlDz6r8c
I’m OLD. I’m pre-deregulation. Cramped seats. Water if you’re lucky. Employees who view you as an inconvenience. And now this. Air fares are NOT inexpensive anymore. Perhaps the industry needs to be re-regulated again to service and operational standards that are sorely lacking today. Thank God i wasn’t in that holiday mess. I ache for not only for the thousands of people whose holiday was ruined but for the frontline staff that Management and Shareholders could care less about whilst their wallets are lined with stock buy backs and cost cutting that brings on this mess.
Let’s not forget pockets lined as well with taxpayer money, your money, that was supposed to prevent all of this.
I am a retired airline pilot for a major US airline. My wife is a retired crew scheduler for the same airline. What you are witnessing is a failure of many to rely on technology without understanding the basics that pen and paper provided for years to schedule crews and equipment. Old basics required understanding FAA flight regulations for crews to remain legal for flying, where crews and equipment were located at all times, and how to utilize each for maximum use.
Weather is always a problem in the winter. Blaming it for much of the meltdown is a copout. I am sorry for so many who had their season ruined by ineffective management.
Too often reliance on technology alone leads to a mess in many different companies – the airlines not withstanding. The best technology resides between your ears. Use it.
Memo
To: Bob Jordan – Southwest CEO
From: Pete Buttigieg – Dept of Transportation
Bob, I’ve could have done better with my MS Excel spread sheet. I suggest you “Pay the Two Dollars” and buy the necessary software package off the shelf . That’s why the US Government (and 331.9 million US taxpayers) gave you $7 billion in the first place.
Regards,
Pete
Bob Jordan and upper management, YOU ARE FIRED!