Southwest Airlines says it's back to a normal schedule
Southwest Airlines say it’s entering the new week with its schedule back on track.
That comes after a technical glitch on Wednesday snarled the carrier’s flights for four consecutive days. Southwest said on Sunday morning it was “reporting a full recovery across our flight network.” But that followed 2,300 cancellations and thousands of delays that stretched from Wednesday afternoon through Saturday evening.
The airline apologized to customers and said it would allow customers ticketed to fly during the disruption to rebook at no cost for flights within two weeks of their original travel dates. Southwest also extended a fare sale that had been set to expire and reportedly has offered delayed fliers a 50% off voucher for future travel.
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“We know it's a long journey to re-earning your trust, but it's our mission to do it,” Linda Rutherford, Southwest’s VP of Communication said Sunday via the company’s corporate blog.
“We've done a lot of apologizing to our customers and have thanked our employees for their hard work, but what we haven't done is thanked both for having respect for one another. The last four days have tested patience and heightened emotions,” Rutherford said in an earlier blog update.
“Make no mistake, Southwest created this problem, “she added. “We own that, and there is no victory lap to be had for a situation that has bred disappointment and shaken the trust customers have in Southwest Airlines.”
Fliers took to social media with complaints – and images – of cancellations, delayed flights and long airport queues.
That the problem dragged on for multiple days created an unexpected narrative for Southwest, a carrier regularly lauded for its customer service and one that has an avid following among its core passenger base.
Still, at least one travel industry expert thinks Southwest is making all the right moves in trying to mitigate the fallout from its “meltown” that began on Wednesday.
Joe Brancatelli, author of the popular JoeSentMe.com site targeted to business travelers, noted CEO Gary Kelly quickly came out with a public statement acknowledging problem and apologizing to fliers.
But beyond that, Brancatelli writes, “Southwest simultaneously went on a charm and cash offensive,” giving customers affected by the glitch “a virtually unrestricted 50% off voucher” for flights taken through the end of January.
"I used one [on Saturday] and saved $400," Brancatelli quotes one of his JoeSentMe members as saying about the post-glitch Southwest vouchers.
Brancatelli’s conclusion? That “goes to show that most fliers will forgive and forget if you back apologies with cash on the barrel.”