As thousands of Southwest Airlines customers try to get out of town or return from their holiday vacations, thousands of bags are stuck at airports across the country. Alex Rozier reports for the NBC4 News on Dec. 28, 2022.
There's a story behind every bag among the sea of luggage lining the wall at the Southwest Airlines terminal baggage claim at Los Angeles International Airport.
Take the bright red bag that belongs to Suzann Kelley's family from Texas. She arrived in Los Angeles Wednesday after a 21-hour drive with her son and husband after their Southwest flight from Dallas was canceled earlier this week.
The Kelleys couldn't fly to LA, but their luggage did.
"They told us that even though they canceled our flight, they were sending our baggage to LA," Kelley said.
The red bag sandwiched between others contains medication for her husband, who just underwent a lung transplant.
"He has, probably, until Saturday morning, and then we have to have it or we have to buy it again," Kelley said, estimating the cost at about $300.
Kelley picked up the red bag, seven others and a car seat belonging to her family Wednesday night. They share a similar story with other Southwest Airlines customers whose flights were canceled during the holidays, leaving travelers stranded in cities across the country.
Long lines greeted travelers at airports Wednesday in Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego and Riverside counties with people looking for flights on other airlines.
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Several turned to rental car companies for transportation to their holiday destinations. Some were left waiting on hold for hours waiting for assistance and were sleeping on the floor of airports.
Southwest Airlines canceled more than 2,300 fights nationwide on Thursday.
A total of 100 inbound and outbound Southwest flights at Los Angeles International Airport were canceled by Wednesday afternoon, according to the flight-tracking website FlightAware. Southwest accounted for the bulk of the 126 overall flight cancellations to and from the airport.
Of all the canceled fights on Wednesday in the country, about 86% of them, or more than 2,500, were from Southwest Airlines, according to FlightAware.
The airline has been operating about one-third of usual flight volume as it worked to reset its systems and reposition its aircraft and flight crews, many of which were left out of position as the weather and computer failures combined to devastate Southwest's operations. That led to mass cancellations of flights in Southern California and beyond, leaving many passengers stranded, unable to reach their destinations and often unable to even locate their checked luggage.
At Hollywood Burbank Airport, 82 inbound and outbound Southwest flights were scrubbed by Wednesday afternoon. Long Beach Airport saw 61 Southwest flight cancellations, while John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana had 93 Southwest cancellations.
Stranded passengers were left with few alternatives, with the Southwest Airlines' website listing all flights departing from Southern California airports as "unavailable" through Saturday.
The airline issued an apology to stranded holiday travelers, stating that its operational challenges stem from last week's historic winter storm.
"With consecutive days of extreme winter weather across our network behind us, continuing challenges are impacting our customers and employees in a significant way that is unacceptable,'' according to a Southwest statement. "We're working with safety at the forefront to urgently address wide-scale disruption by rebalancing the airline and repositioning crews and our fleet ultimately to best serve all who plan to travel with us.
"And our heartfelt apologies for this are just beginning."
In a video posted online Tuesday afternoon, Southwest Airlines CEO Bob Jordan said that cadence would continue through the week as it works to reposition its crews and airplanes.
"We're doing everything we can to return to a normal operation,'' he said. "We always take care of our customers and we will lean in and go above and beyond as they would expect us to.
"Our plan for the next few days is to fly a reduced schedule and reposition our people and planes, and we're making headway and we're optimistic of being back on track before next week. We have some real work to do in making this right."
Jordan again blamed the "bitter cold" for the problems, but also acknowledged that the airline needs to make improvements in its scheduling systems ``so that we never again face what's happening right now."
Officials with the U.S. Department of Transportation issued a statement calling the Southwest situation "unacceptable.''
"USDOT is concerned by Southwest's unacceptable rate of cancellations and delays and reports of lack of prompt customer service,'' the department stated. "The department will examine whether cancellations were controllable and if Southwest is complying with its customer service plan."
Jordan said in his video that he has reached out to U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to discuss the steps the airline has taken to rectify the issues.
Southwest Airlines said it was fully staffed late last week and prepared for the approaching Christmas weekend when severe weather swept across the continent.
"On the other side of this, we'll work to make things right for those we've let down, including our employees,'' the airline stated.
Impacted travelers can find more information here.
