Southwest Airlines said its operations are "healthy and stable" following numerous flight cancellations and delays over the weekend and on Christmas Day.
"Our operation is currently healthy and stable and we do not anticipate any significant disruptions for Tuesday," a Southwest spokesperson told Newsweek via email on Tuesday.
"We continue to have all-hands on deck as our Employees work to safely take care of our Customers during this busy holiday travel season."
FlightAware data showed that two Southwest flights had been canceled on Tuesday morning, one that was scheduled to fly into Burbank, California, and another that was headed to Denver International Airport. According to FlightAware, at least 688 flights—15 percent of the airline's total—were delayed on Tuesday.
Southwest and other airlines prepared for the busy Christmas travel period by hiring thousands of pilots, flight attendants and other workers, according to The Associated Press, in a bid to avoid the delays and cancellations that caused chaos at the end of 2022.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced a $140 million penalty against Southwest over the operational debacle that canceled thousands of flights and stranded more than 2 million travelers over Christmas in 2022.
Passengers flying with Southwest Airlines over the holiday period were once again met with disruptions that an airline spokesperson blamed on dense fog in Chicago area.
Southwest canceled 426 flights on Saturday and Sunday, and delayed nearly 2,690 flights, according to FlightAware.
And on Christmas Day, another 110 flights were canceled—2 percent of the airline's total flights—and 913 were delayed, FlightAware data showed.
An airline spokesperson said dense fog in Chicago prevented planes from landing at Midway International Airport, the airline's fourth busiest hub.
"Midway is our fourth busiest airport operation, with more than 200 departures a day scheduled over the holiday weekend," the spokesperson said.
"As a result of dense fog that began in Chicago on Saturday and continued into Sunday, we canceled approximately 100 flights on Monday and 300 flights for Sunday systemwide (out of our total flights of approximately 4,300). We are now operating a normal schedule at Chicago Midway and across our network. We are fully staffed and all gates are open and fully operating with no additional challenges expected."
Forecasters have warned that travel conditions would be dangerous in parts of the country on Tuesday. The National Weather Service has warned that a combination of heavy snow and strong winds will produce blizzard conditions for parts of Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming, making travel difficult if not impossible.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Khaleda Rahman is Newsweek's Senior News Reporter based in London, UK. Her focus is reporting on abortion rights, race, education, ... Read more
