Southwest Airlines canceled hundreds more flights Monday following a weekend of major service disruptions.
The Dallas-based airline canceled hundreds of flights over the weekend, blaming the woes on air traffic control issues and weather.
According to FlightAware, the carrier has canceled 348 flights Monday and delayed another 303 flights. The airline canceled more than 1,000 flights, or 29% of its schedule, as of 7 p.m. ET Sunday, according to flight tracker FlightAware.
The cancellations mark the highest rate by far of the major U.S. airlines over the weekend. Next in line was Allegiant, which canceled 6% of its flights. American Airlines canceled 5% of its flights, while Spirit canceled 4% on Sunday. On Saturday, Southwest Airlines canceled more than 800 flights. Southwest said in a statement that it is working diligently to reset operations and is allowing customers to rebook themselves on their website.
Rumors began floating around social media that Southwest's cancellations were a result of a “sick-out” by Southwest pilots in response to mandatory vaccination orders — a rumor quickly dispelled by the airline’s pilots association.
To parse out these cancellations and why we’re seeing them with increased frequency, The Show spoke with David Slotnick, senior aviation business reporter with the Points Guy travel site.
