BALTIMORE — It’s been a couple days and hours of drained bank accounts and extra time spent at airports for Southwest Airlines customers.
The airline says a system issue grounded and disrupted hundreds of flights.
It’s caused massive lines at the Southwest Desks at BWI full of people hoping to get where they need to be going.
“I’m tired, this is my second cancellation in five days,” said Daniel Owens. “All this has already cost me money for extra hotel rooms, extra time.”
These people’s bank accounts are feeling the effects of the delays too.
“We just want to visit family,” said Myra Johnson. “Now we’ve got to figure out where we are going to stay for the next two days. We have to get a rental car, I mean we just need to be compensated. They canceled our flight. I feel like we need to be compensated for the fact we have to stay in the area for two days.”
Southwest said it is in the process of getting normal operations going again.
Tuesday's issues come a day after several airlines, including Southwest, experienced technical problems. A Southwest spokesperson told NPR Monday that the company "experienced intermittent performance issues" that kept information from being sent to flight crews.
“We gotta get a hotel tonight, I’ve got no luggage. Oh wait I have all my blood pressure meds in there which I gotta take everyday,” said Peter Myers. “I asked the women what happens if I have an issue with that? She said we’re not pulling bags, so.”
Southwest is asking travelers to use Southwest.com to check flight statuses or to consult a Southwest Airlines customer service agent at their airport if they need assistance.
Southwest provided an update Thursday to the delays stating:
Our Teams are continuing their efforts to get our Customers affected by this week’s technology challenges to their destinations as quickly as possible. While the issues have been resolved, we are still experiencing a relatively small number of cancelations and delays throughout the Southwest network as we work to restore the network. Customers can visit Southwest.com to view their flight status or visit with a Customer Service Agent to assist them with their travel needs.
