The Southwest fiasco: an expert's view
No doubt you’ve heard about Southwest’s fiasco at the end of 2022. 16,700 flights canceled, passengers stranded throughout the country without much help from the airline. A “we give up” attitude from Southwest that was the airline equivalent of unplugging and replugging your computer — only that it took several days. It’s the worst fiasco I’ve seen in American aviation since 9/11.
The root cause is what often happens: we delay upgrades and maintenance until things fall apart. Although most U.S. airlines were affected by the storm, Southwest collapsed because its software couldn’t handle the degree of disruption. Many airlines have automated things like rebooking, passenger handling and crew allocation.
But Southwest hasn’t. Its former CEO, a bean counter, didn’t want spend the money on updating the software. Instead, Southwest relied on crew to call in to report where they were.
Just a few weeks before the collapse, its new CEO announced dividends:
“Today’s announcement reflects the strong return in demand for air travel and the Company’s solid operating and financial results since March 2022,” said Southwest CEO Bob Jordan in a news release.
Almost exactly a month later, this 8-K was filed by:
the Company currently expects to report a net loss in fourth quarter 2022, driven by a preliminary estimated fourth quarter 2022 pre-tax negative impact in the range of $725 million to $825 million.
There was a lot written about this by media, pilots and flight attendants. The best read was from a pilot on Facebook:
Gary [Southwest’s former CEO] was an accountant by education and his style leading Southwest Airlines became more focused on finances and less on operations. He did not spend much time on the front lines. He didn’t engage front line employees much. When the CEO doesn’t get out in the trenches the neither do the lower levels of leadership.
Gary named another accountant to be Chief Operating Officer (the person responsible for day to day operations). The new COO had little or no operational background. This trickled down through the lower levels of leadership, as well.
In my previous newsletter, I wrote about how to deal with air travel when things go wrong. It covers many of the situations that occur when traveling. I didn’t anticipate things would go this wrong.
Experts get stuck, too
This smug West Coaster looked with schadenfreude at the weather that was disrupting the Midwest and East Coast and decided to tempt fate by booking a last-minute trip to Las Vegas and Palm Springs starting on December 23. The next day, Southwest’s shitshow began.
I was scheduled to return from Palm Springs on the 27th. Although Southwest had canceled thousands of flights in the previous days and canceled most flights on the 27th, my flight at 5:05 pm. was listed as on time. I followed the incoming aircraft and saw that it was running late in the previous two segments. There was no way it would be on time, but at least it was flying. Until it wasn’t. As I walked into PSP, I checked the flight status only to see it was canceled. The operational shutdown was so bad that I didn’t even get email or text alerts about the delays or cancellation.
So I went to work at the airport using my own tips: checking my iPad for alternative flights and accommodations. (If Southwest had canceled the flight in the morning, I would have had more options.)
In most cases, when delays and cancellations are the result of things in an airline’s control, they will provide overnight accommodations and re-book you on a later flight, even if it’s on another airline.
After about 20 minutes of fruitless searching for alternatives, my spouse suggested that I visit the Southwest ticket counter. I was expecting a long line; there wasn’t one. I asked the agent about my options. He said he could book me on the next Southwest flight four days later or refund my $200 fare.
“$200 isn’t going to get me to Oakland,” I said. That was the best he could offer. Obviously that wasn’t going to work.
I’d heard in news reporting Southwest PR saying that passengers with disrupted plans should keep their receipts and that Southwest would reimburse them, with little guidance as to what they will reimburse and what the limit would be. I also had travel insurance through my credit card.
I returned to my iPad to work on my new plan. Finding that all of the flights to the Bay Area had left already, I booked a hotel room. This is really important. You don’t want to be stuck in a loud airport, especially if you might have to spend the night there.
At the hotel, I researched my options. Because it was the holidays, flights were pretty much full. I found a seat on Alaska Airlines PSP-SFO. Only one seat, at any price. I looked around to find alternatives. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. No options for two passengers from any of the airports in the LA area to any airport in the Bay Area.
So I decided to split up. Back to the Alaska site. Damn. Seat is gone. Oh wait, it’s back. Gone again. Back. Gone. It took a few tries but I was eventually able to grab the seat. Spouse taken care of.
I went to work on my own ticket. Nothing from Palm Springs for two days. I finally found one seat from LAX, a 2 1/2 hour drive away. The flights were in the afternoon and evening the next day.
That solved, we decided to take the morning easy and go to the Living Desert Zoo in Palm Desert. A long and stressful evening, but we made the best of it.
After dropping off my spouse at the airport, I did the drive to LAX, with a detour to Santa Monica for a Godmother and cannoli at Bay Cities Italian Deli.
Southwest’s response
The initial response from Southwest was “you figure it out, we won’t help you.”
Since then, it has improved. Southwest has offered to reimburse expenses. They proactively sent us two vouchers for 25,000 miles each. (A total value of $600 given Southwest’s frequent flier program.)
We had a companion pass that allowed both of us to travel for the price of one ticket plus taxes for the companion’s ticket. Southwest also proactively extended it by a month. (Even without the extension, it is one of the best deals in travel.) That’ll get me a ski trip.
What’s left for me is to get our reimbursement. I filed my claim for ~$1,600. If they pay that in full, it will have been the best response I’ve experienced for a travel disruption.
I prefer the DIY model for travel disruptions, if I know that I’ll be covered. I can pick a hotel I would normally stay instead of a Days Inn. I can pick the flights I want. I’ll let you know how it goes.
One mistake I made was not grabbing seats as soon I saw them. Some airlines allow you to cancel even non-refundable fares within 24 hours of purchase. Book it and then keep looking.
Be careful if you do this: the official DOT rule is that the 24 hours applies if the ticket was purchased 7 days in advance. As of this writing, Delta and United honor the 24 hour cancellation regardless of purchase date. Alaska only allows the cancellation if you book at least 24 hours in advance. (It wouldn’t have applied in this case.)