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Mon Oct 11, 2021, 12:06 AM

cadoman (792 posts)

Southwest Airlines cancels 1,800 flights, blaming weather and staffing

Source: CNBC

Southwest Airlines canceled more than 1,800 flights this weekend, disrupting the travel plans of thousands of customers and stranding flight crews — the airline blamed the meltdown on a combination of bad weather, air traffic control and its own shortage of available staff.

“I know this is incredibly difficult for all of you, and our Customers are not happy,” Alan Kasher executive vice president of daily flight operations told staff in a note on Sunday, which was seen by CNBC.

The airline said initial problems on bad weather and an “FAA-imposed air traffic management program” were to blame.

“Although we were staffed for the weekend, we could not anticipate the significant disruption that was created from unexpected ATC issues and bad weather across our Florida stations,” said Kasher.

Other airlines canceled relatively few flights. Southwest did not comment on the disparity.

Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/10/southwest-airlines-cancels-1000-more-flights-as-disruptions-mount.html

Anyone have any insights on the mentioned air traffic management program?

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15 replies	Author	Time	Post
Southwest Airlines cancels 1,800 flights, blaming weather and staffing (Original post)	cadoman	Oct 2021	OP
Anti vaxxers are saying it is a sick-out	AZSkiffyGeek	Oct 2021	#1
I don't think what they say matters in an overall kind of way. nt	BootinUp	Oct 2021	#3
Where in Florida was there bad weather? NT	cinematicdiversions	Oct 2021	#2
There wasn't. It's airlines' fallback position...	mpcamb	Oct 2021	#6
It doesn't make sense	cinematicdiversions	Oct 2021	#8
Weather issues are	melm00se	Oct 2021	#14
One suspects this will just make life more difficult for	Sherman A1	Oct 2021	#4
Flying wasn't always the hassle it is now.	twodogsbarking	Oct 2021	#5
Why would FAA require newly vaxxed to quarantine?	Trueblue Texan	Oct 2021	#7
It's not a quarantine per se	bluevoter4life	Oct 2021	#11
The FAA says there were no weather or staffing issues reported, this is on Southwest, sorry traveler	Shanti Shanti Shanti	Oct 2021	#9
I'm ATC	bluevoter4life	Oct 2021	#10
thanks for sharing your direct knowledge on that	cadoman	Oct 2021	#15
Southwest's vax deadline for personnel is Dec 8. It's my belief they'd rather shut down than	ancianita	Oct 2021	#12
Un-vaxxed crew walking out	Aviation Pro	Oct 2021	#13

Response to cadoman (Original post)

Mon Oct 11, 2021, 12:33 AM

AZSkiffyGeek (9,674 posts)

1. Anti vaxxers are saying it is a sick-out

But I’ve also read that FAA requires newly vaxxed to quarsntine(?)and a lot of people were getting jabbed ahead of vaxx mandates.

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Response to AZSkiffyGeek (Reply #1)

Mon Oct 11, 2021, 02:41 AM

BootinUp (45,007 posts)

3. I don't think what they say matters in an overall kind of way. nt

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Response to cadoman (Original post)

Mon Oct 11, 2021, 12:38 AM

cinematicdiversions (1,969 posts)

2. Where in Florida was there bad weather? NT

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Response to cinematicdiversions (Reply #2)

Mon Oct 11, 2021, 09:08 AM

mpcamb (2,774 posts)

6. There wasn't. It's airlines' fallback position...

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Response to mpcamb (Reply #6)

Mon Oct 11, 2021, 09:30 AM

cinematicdiversions (1,969 posts)

8. It doesn't make sense

Do they have some guy with a map and a Sharpie?

Talk about something that is clearly untrue.

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Response to mpcamb (Reply #6)

Mon Oct 11, 2021, 04:16 PM

melm00se (4,914 posts)

14. Weather issues are

the default airline excuse because they don't have to pay any reimbursement the way that they have to for other reasons like maintenance as well as others that are under the airlines' control.

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Response to cadoman (Original post)

Mon Oct 11, 2021, 05:37 AM

Sherman A1 (38,958 posts)

4. One suspects this will just make life more difficult for

Everyone involved, passengers and staff as these flights are rebooked.

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Response to cadoman (Original post)

Mon Oct 11, 2021, 08:17 AM

twodogsbarking (7,433 posts)

5. Flying wasn't always the hassle it is now.

Honest.

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Response to cadoman (Original post)

Mon Oct 11, 2021, 09:14 AM

Trueblue Texan (2,117 posts)

7. Why would FAA require newly vaxxed to quarantine?

You can't get the virus from the vaccine.

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Response to Trueblue Texan (Reply #7)

Mon Oct 11, 2021, 11:31 AM

bluevoter4life (779 posts)

11. It's not a quarantine per se

We are required to wait 2 days after each dose to return to work. Standard practice to make sure we don't experience any side effects that would make it detrimental to do our job.

FAA has list of prohibited medications for controllers and pilots, and other medications that require a certain amount of time to pass before returning to duty.

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Response to cadoman (Original post)

Mon Oct 11, 2021, 10:37 AM

Shanti Shanti Shanti (11,964 posts)

9. The FAA says there were no weather or staffing issues reported, this is on Southwest, sorry traveler

You on your own, get a horse

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Response to cadoman (Original post)

Mon Oct 11, 2021, 11:29 AM

bluevoter4life (779 posts)

10. I'm ATC

Not in Jacksonville. My understanding there is that there are no out-of-the-ordinary staffing issues at Jax Center. Normal approved Leave and also the mandatory 2-day absence for receiving the vaccine.

Plus, there is a large-scale military training exercise in the area which is forcing the Center to re-route aircraft over a much smaller number of routes which is leading to congestion along those routes.

When Southwest is blaming ATC for this, they are full of shit.

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Response to bluevoter4life (Reply #10)

Tue Oct 12, 2021, 12:34 AM

cadoman (792 posts)

15. thanks for sharing your direct knowledge on that

It's what makes forum discussions so valuable!

Did Southwest handle their leave of absence policies worse than other carriers with mandates?

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Response to cadoman (Original post)

Mon Oct 11, 2021, 01:11 PM

ancianita (33,728 posts)

12. Southwest's vax deadline for personnel is Dec 8. It's my belief they'd rather shut down than

go through the administrative and customer blowback from requiring testing and totally vaxxed personnel right now.

I'd just checked to see what their vaccination policy is because my non-vaxxed daughter wanted to come down to FL for Thanksgiving. I had to tell her no. So she couldn't book three round trip non-stops to Sarasota.

So I think the disparity across other airlines is that Southwest is just giving up doing business on their personnel's terms right now over their covid vaccination deadline, in an attempt to avoid the politics and longer potential negative PR affect on their business. Just my theory.

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Response to cadoman (Original post)

Mon Oct 11, 2021, 01:23 PM

Aviation Pro (11,571 posts)

13. Un-vaxxed crew walking out

....

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