The US airline has struggled to regain its footing after a winter storm, leaving travellers stranded.
Image source, Getty ImagesSouthwest Airlines has issued a second apology as more of its flights were cancelled across the country.
In a video posted late on Wednesday, the US airline’s chief commercial officer pledged it would “work day and night” to regain customer trust.
“My personal apology is the first step of making things right after many plans changed,” Ryan Green said.
The company has cancelled more than 10,000 flights in total since last Friday, when a winter storm hit the US.
Southwest has struggled to return to a normal flight schedule after the fierce weather swept the country, even as other airlines caught up following the travel disruptions.
The airline – which is the largest carrier in the US – cancelled 2,360 flights on Thursday, comprising nearly all of the total US flight cancellations for the day, according to tracking service FlightAware.
The company has announced that it will resume normal operations “with minimal disruptions” on Friday.
Several days of cancellations have left travellers stranded at airports across the US with hours-long waits to get help from the airline to rebook flights and retrieve missing baggage.
Patrick Keane exclaimed with joy upon being reunited was with his lost luggage and said he had not had his belongings in a week.
“I’ve just been wearing other people’s clothes,” he told Reuters.
Others took to social media to say they ended up paying for costly new flights or had to find alternative means of transportation.
The company’s CEO Bob Jordan made the first apology video from the airline for the travel chaos on Tuesday.
The airline has blamed the bad weather and problems getting crews to new planes as issues behind the disruptions.
CBS, the BBC’s US partner, reported that the company told some passengers they would not be able to get on a flight until after Sunday – New Year’s Day.
Southwest has said it will honour “reasonable requests” for reimbursement for meals, hotel and alternate transportation for travellers stranded between 24 December and 2 January, and will offer flexibility for passengers to make changes to their travel online.
Other major airlines – including United and American Airlines – have pledged to place price caps on flights in certain cities where Southwest operates to help some passengers.
Southwest’s flight chaos has drawn criticism from US President Joe Biden’s administration, which has promised to hold the company accountable and ensure they provide vouchers for travel costs incurred as a result of the cancellations.
Speaking to “Good Morning America” on ABC News on Wednesday, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg called the flight cancellations a “meltdown” and argued it was “past the point” where the company could blame bad weather for the disruptions.
Unions and analysts say a variety of factors led to the cancellations, including the airline’s “point-to-point” system for how it designs its routes, which they say can leave it vulnerable to staffing issues when it comes to delays.