Southwest Airlines canceled more than 1,000 flights on Sunday, the second consecutive day of mass cancellations from the airline. The 1,044 flights represents 28% of its scheduled operations for the day, while also reporting 714 delays as of 6 p.m. Sunday evening.
Sunday’s cancellations came after the airline canceled 808 flights on Saturday, representing about a quarter of its daily operations. In a statement Saturday, Southwest said air traffic control issues and “disruptive weather” resulted in a “high volume of cancellations.” Southwest said in a follow-up statement on Sunday: “We’ve continued diligent work throughout the weekend to reset our operation with a focus on getting aircraft and crews repositioned to take care of our customers.”
The Federal Aviation Administration said there have not been any air traffic related cancellations since Friday and that airlines are experiencing delays due to aircraft and crews being out of place. Other major airlines did not appear to be severely impacted, with American Airlines and Spirit Airlines both canceling only 2% of flights.
Southwest has instituted a vaccine mandate for employees but the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, the union representing the company’s pilots, issued a statement saying it could “say with confidence that our pilots are not participating in any official or unofficial job actions. Our pilots will continue to overcome SWA management’s poor planning, as well as any external operational challenges and remain the most productive pilots in the world. SWAPA pilots are true professionals and will always maintain the highest level of responsibility to their crews, their passengers, and our airline.”
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