Per NBC News

As people are trying to get home during the holidays, Southwest Airlines has cancelled 70% of flights citing winter weather as a reason why flights are cancelled. The company plans to fly a third of its flights as the situation gets better.

The Airlines released an official apology regarding the situation saying it is only the start of the cancellations. Southwest's statement gives people an glimpse of how the situation could get worse in the coming days.

Southwest: “Our heartfelt apologies for this are just beginning,”

Southwest canceled 2,893 flights on Monday, which was 70% of the schedule, per FlightAware, a flight tracking website. While Southwest Airlines had the most cancellations, Delta and United also canceled 300 and 130 flights respectively.

Throughout Saturday to Monday, over 8,200 flights were cancelled with over 200 million people under the winter weather warnings or alerts throughout the weekend as temperatures go extremely low.

Despite the cancellations, the company plans to continue with at least a third of its schedule, around 1,500 flights, for the following days, per Southwest CEO Bob Jordan in a statement to The Wall Street Journal. The company's stated also mentioned how they are also considering their employees and how they will work throughout the winter weather.

The Southwest CEO also shared how the company is struggling to deal with the harsh weather and that the situation could get worse in the following day.

Jordan: “We had a tough day today. In all likelihood we’ll have another tough day tomorrow as we work our way out of this,”

9News reported Courtney Yuen shared a video of the situation, describing the rebooking line being over three hours long and that some people have been stranded for days since they weren't able to get a rental car or hotel.

Southwest's flight cancellations have also caught the eye of the US Transportation Department, which wasn't accepting of the situation. A spokesperson of the department gave a statement regarding the situation.

USDOT: "USDOT is concerned by Southwest Airlines’ disproportionate and unacceptable rate of cancellations and delays as well as the failure to properly support customers experiencing a cancellation or delay,"

Resources:

NBC News

SWA Media

FlightAware

The Wall Street Journal

@courtyuen

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