Southwest passengers, stranded on LI or away from it, air their grievances

On a Christmas week that has seen Southwest Airlines cancel more than 11,000 flights across the country, stranded Long Island residents and visitors are wondering how long it might take before they can return home.

Jeff Schaeffer, Patchogue

When Schaeffer arrived at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago for a 6 a.m. flight Monday, he found it odd that no Southwest Airlines crew was present to greet his family. It turns out that was just the start of a nightmare in its third day Wednesday.

His flight to Long Island MacArthur Airport was eventually canceled. Same for a second one, set for Wednesday night. After two days of waiting, the local brewery owner turned to social media to share a photo of John Candy from "Home Alone," joking that a nice man offered him a ride with his polka band in a U-Haul.

“It’s tough to just not be home for so long,” he said, adding that he and fiancée Kasandra Watkins at least have family in Chicago gracious enough to put them and 1-year-old son Henry up for a couple extra nights.

That’s right: They’re traveling with a toddler, a challenging enough proposition.

Schaeffer said he was initially told by Southwest that the plane his family was scheduled to depart Chicago in was smaller than planned and they couldn’t fit everyone. It wasn’t for several hours that the first flight was canceled, and by then the realization had set in that they were a small part of something larger.

The family was exploring rental car options but finding them scarce. They hope by Friday to make the roughly 15-hour drive back to Long Island, where he owns Peconic County Brewing in Riverhead.

“Luckily I have a great crew keeping the place afloat,” he said. “But it’s a busy week with people home from school looking to get a beer and something to eat. Plus there’s nobody there to sign the checks.”

Melissa Chemick, Bohemia

First, Chemick was stuck trying to leave Long Island. Now she can’t get back.

She couldn’t celebrate Christmas the way she had planned, with her fiancé outside Nashville, Tennessee, after Southwest Airlines canceled her departing flight Christmas Eve.

An employee of Farmingdale State College, Chemick splits time between locations, but she was eager to fly back to MacArthur Airport this week so she could return to work. When that will be, she still doesn’t know.

Chemick learned overnight that her Thursday morning flight back to Islip already has been canceled. She’s been working to secure a new flight — as she did with JetBlue when she departed for Tennessee two days after originally planned — but it hasn’t been easy.

“[I’m trying] to secure a different flight for the days after that are astronomically priced,” she said.

The frustrations are real.

Chemick spent 3 ½ hours on the phone with Southwest with no resolution after she experienced three delays and a cancellation on Christmas Eve. When she learned her return flight also was canceled, she was given no explanation for how to get a refund.

She will likely need to switch airlines again to head back north.

She’s taking it all in stride, though, knowing others are stranded in airports and hotels. She, at least, has a residence and good company in Tennessee.

“We are fine here,” she said. “But we did miss [Christmas] festivities.”

Ed and Margaret Sheffield of Florida

The flight uncertainty is starting to take a toll on the couple.

They had to extend their hotel stay in Islandia by five days and burden family who didn’t expect them around this week.

After their Tuesday trip to Palm Bay was axed, Southwest put them on a Saturday flight home, but nothing is guaranteed.

With little confidence in the airline, the couple is scrambling to make backup plans.

Ed — who is missing several days of work — has to report back Monday. Meanwhile, Margaret, a court reporter who works as a subcontractor, also lost business. “It’s definitely our livelihood,” she said. “We’re trying to hedge our bets.”

And while they’re consumed with securing a Plan B, they’re also worrying about reimbursements. “It’s a lot of stress. We’re in a black hole of information,” Margaret said.

If their New Year’s Eve flight is scrubbed, Ed hopes to catch a 5 a.m. Frontier flight Sunday morning with just a briefcase in tow because luggage is an additional cost.

“There is the predicament that when you leave your home you can become stranded and that is not acceptable in America,” Margaret said.

John Syrett, Bay Shore

After two back-to-back canceled Southwest flights out of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, this week, Syrett realized he’d have better luck renting a car and driving home to Bay Shore. At the Myrtle Beach airport on Wednesday, anxious passengers were given little reassurance, he said.

“They said, 'We can’t guarantee anything until after the New Year.' I said, 'I need to get home to work'… and they offered to pay for a rental,” Syrett said. He started the 11.5-hour trek at 4:15 p.m. Wednesday and stopped only for gas and bathroom breaks.

The scrubbed flights cost him two days of work as a technician for a heating oil supplier in Lindenhurst during peak season.

“I lost two days of work because of this and I won’t get reimbursed for that,” Syrett said.

He said he lost faith in Southwest management after seeing cascading cancellations and little help from customer service, including no response on the phone.

“They lost a customer and hopefully a lot more. That’s the only way they will learn about how to run a company. It’s disgusting.”

Syrett said he will be submitting about $400 worth of related rental car expenses.

Tracy Stahl, North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

A six-day planned trip on Long Island is turning into an 11-day excursion and over $1,500 in extra expenses for Stahl, 45.

Stahl is relieved she was able to secure a Hauppauge hotel with her credit card after her Tuesday flight was called off by Southwest, but there are reimbursement concerns. On top of hotel, food and car service, she’s also had to pay for nearly a week’s worth of medication and rely on a neighbor to continue caring for her dog down South.

“It’s been emotionally and financially overwhelming for all of us to be displaced this holiday season,” she said.

Family she was visiting on Long Island wasn’t anticipating her continued stay and prearranged out-of-town plans this week.

“Now I’ll be spending the holidays in my hotel rather than with friends,” she said.

Her flight back to North Myrtle Beach is scheduled for Sunday at 5:40 a.m., but Stahl is worried the carrier will leave her stranded.

“If my next flight is canceled, I won’t ever fly Southwest again. It makes you really scared; I don’t want this happening again.”