Southwest Airlines schedule returns to relative normalcy

As Southwest Airlines resumed to relatively normal operations on Friday, apprehensive passengers at Long Island MacArthur Airport were keeping their fingers crossed that the worst of the meltdown was over.

The boards at the Islip airport showed no flights were called off but the FlightAware tracking service showed three cancellations Friday, still a major improvement since yesterday and days prior.

With many of the carrier’s flights back in full swing Friday, the Islip airport — where Southwest has been a major carrier since 1999 — appeared the busiest it’s been all week. In a sign that the network was running better today, many Southwest passengers were utilizing the self check-in center to receive their boarding passes as opposed to standing in a line for an agent.

Cherie Drisco, 49, of East Patchogue, was relieved her morning flight to Nashville, was taking off as planned.

“We were worrying up until last night ... but I said to my husband, 'It is what it is, you can’t get crazy over it,'” she said, noting she felt for the tens of thousands of stranded passengers.

The company cancelled more than 15,000 flights since a winter storm swept across the country last week and while most airlines had recovered by Monday, Southwest continued to experience snowballing cancellations and disruptions. The company blamed its technology for being unable to keep up with the nationwide disruption and struggled to realign crews and aircraft. It has started to tackle the issue manually, airline spokesperson Chris Perry previously said in an email.

Airline CEO Bob Jordan appeared on ABC “Good Morning America” Friday and assured the flying public that the airline will be investing in their operations, after admitting severe weather along with operational issues contributed to the fiasco. He was confident the company was back on track Friday, with 3,900 flights nationwide.

“There will be a lot of lessons in terms of what we can do to make sure that this never happens again,” Jordan said.

The carrier’s flight attendants union, TWU Local 556, along with the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association said they had been sounding the alarm on outdated systems that needed upgrading but warnings were not heeded. In November, SWAPA president Casey Murphy predicted “a complete meltdown" could be just one thunderstorm away.

U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg promised to hold the airline to account while ensuring customers get the services and refunds they deserve.

At least one couple at MacArthur Airport was worried about getting reimbursed for out-of-pocket extras incurred after their Southwest flight to Tampa, Fla. was cancelled yesterday. Betty and Daniel Rodgers, of Weeki Wachee, Fla., said that they were on the phone trying to reach Southwest customer service Thursday when someone claiming to have the company’s authorization got on the line and convinced them to book $1,084 tickets to Tampa on Frontier Airlines and tacked on over $200 booking fees.

But it turned out the agentwas not affiliated with Southwest, the couple learned Friday. The company does not partner with outside travel agents for general reservations, airline spokesperson Perry added.

To make matters worse, the couple's Frontier flight out of Islip this morning was also cancelled and they were rebooked on another plane to Orlando Saturday, forcing them to rent a car to pick up their own vehicle from the Tampa airport.

“It’s been a nightmare," Betty Rodgers, 70, said. “I can’t believe how horrible this has been.”

With AP