Southwest Airlines Debacle

[livinitup]

I worked for a non-profit with required state billing/tracking/documentation. The IT guy was self-taught and cheap. Great money savings (!) when he lost all of our data because the repeated answer he gave “yes, the server is backed-up” to everyone *including the board* omitted the detail that he backed-up the sever TO the server. In the end we lost a month of data.

Spend more money on IT upgrades and personnel.

[bears]

Dec 27, 2022 23:04:59 GMT -5 SusanBAnthony said:

Dec 27, 2022 22:28:53 GMT -5 bears said:

I previously worked for a company in a very similar situation and keep on seeing parallels. I have a lot of sympathy for the SW IT team that has been keeping this together with spit and glue for two decades while being for better resources to prevent this from happening.

Yep, exactly. Every year individual contributors and mid level managers share a message that this is going to end in catastrophy, and every year it gets bigger and bigger and harder to fix.....

I can't imagine that there's any quick solution to fixing the outdated software unless they are in progress. Even with fast tracking, outsourcing, taking people away from their core responsibilities to help build, and throwing money at the problem, I don't see how they can feasibly get a solution any time soon (I'm thinking at least a year).

[wise_rita]

I hope Secretary Pete sticks it to them!

[woowoo]

Dec 28, 2022 12:39:22 GMT -5 wise_rita said:

I hope Secretary Pete sticks it to them!

I just said the same thing this morning! 

I am flying to Chicago on SW on January 5th and they are already sending emails suggesting we change our flight. 
We're not sure what to do - anyone hear how long they expect this to go on?   

[waverly]

I have a credit that I was thinking about using Jan 7th/8th. I had pretty much decided not to use it because the flight time home was 9pm. But after this, they are definitely not going to be ready to fly most airplanes by that weekend. If we decide to go, which we probably won't since we have 2 party invitations here, then it is only a 5 hour drive.

[wildrice]

I wonder if they'll be back to normal by mid-January. We are supposed to fly to Boston to visit a friend on the 13th and I'm curious if we will have to cancel. It is just a social visit and won't be the end of the world if we have to reschedule, but I wish there was a better way to know in advance.

[Deleted]

Dec 27, 2022 22:17:54 GMT -5 steamboat185 said:

We are stuck. Our flight in the 28th showed up as canceled in flightaware yesterday the earliest we could rebook for 4 people was 1/2 (had we waited for the official cancel text today it would have been 1/4). We booked a flight on United on 12/30 for 2900 and are hoping either Southwest or travel insurance will pay for part or all of the flight. I don’t trust that Southwest will be ok by 1/2. We’d drive, but it’s 30 plus hours without stopping. Edit we are luckier than most having free lodging with family, but we’re all ready to be home and sleeping not on air mattresses.

Check the terms of your flight insurance. I know I've seen in some travel forums that the coverage is typically for your original itinerary/flights and as soon as you change the airline or itinerary, that coverage basically ended. Of course, given what you paid I'd push on it to see who you can get paid from because this whole thing is a fuck!ng mess. And I'd bet these travel insurance companies are going to do everything in their power not to pay on these claims given what people are spending to get home. 

[mrspez07]

SIL came in to Denver from Sacramento on Friday with a bit of a delay but had to wait over an hour for bags. She left today to travel on to Nashville to see a friend, that one appears to have departed.At least some flights are going.

She is supposed to return to Sacramento on the 3rd. We’ll see. For her, she’s got places to stay with family/friends and no deadlines for arrivals. She will eventually have to work, but she’s one of the lucky ones in all regards.

ETA: on her flight to Nashville, she has a whole row to herself. Despite the fact there are probably plenty of people that would love to be heading that direction 🤯

[wildrice]

Dec 28, 2022 14:53:32 GMT -5 mrspez07 said:

SIL came in to Denver from Sacramento on Friday with a bit of a delay but had to wait over an hour for bags. She left today to travel on to Nashville to see a friend, that one appears to have departed.At least some flights are going.

She is supposed to return to Sacramento on the 3rd. We’ll see. For her, she’s got places to stay with family/friends and no deadlines for arrivals. She will eventually have to work, but she’s one of the lucky ones in all regards.

ETA: on her flight to Nashville, she has a whole row to herself. Despite the fact there are probably plenty of people that would love to be heading that direction 🤯

To your last point, that is wild - and I noticed at least 2 seats near us empty on our flight yesterday morning too. I find it hard to believe that nobody wanted them so WTF Southwest? You are cancelling all these people but aren't even completely filling the planes you are flying?

[MrsAxilla]

Dec 28, 2022 15:51:16 GMT -5 wildrice said:

Dec 28, 2022 14:53:32 GMT -5 mrspez07 said:

SIL came in to Denver from Sacramento on Friday with a bit of a delay but had to wait over an hour for bags. She left today to travel on to Nashville to see a friend, that one appears to have departed.At least some flights are going.

She is supposed to return to Sacramento on the 3rd. We’ll see. For her, she’s got places to stay with family/friends and no deadlines for arrivals. She will eventually have to work, but she’s one of the lucky ones in all regards.

ETA: on her flight to Nashville, she has a whole row to herself. Despite the fact there are probably plenty of people that would love to be heading that direction 🤯

To your last point, that is wild - and I noticed at least 2 seats near us empty on our flight yesterday morning too. I find it hard to believe that nobody wanted them so WTF Southwest? You are cancelling all these people but aren't even completely filling the planes you are flying?

I know a bunch of people trying to get to NYC for the 4 night Phish run and the current word is to show up and fly standby. No one can get through to anyone to rebook.

[starlily]

Wrong thread - deleted.

[wanderingback]

Dec 28, 2022 15:51:16 GMT -5 wildrice said:

Dec 28, 2022 14:53:32 GMT -5 mrspez07 said:

SIL came in to Denver from Sacramento on Friday with a bit of a delay but had to wait over an hour for bags. She left today to travel on to Nashville to see a friend, that one appears to have departed.At least some flights are going.

She is supposed to return to Sacramento on the 3rd. We’ll see. For her, she’s got places to stay with family/friends and no deadlines for arrivals. She will eventually have to work, but she’s one of the lucky ones in all regards.

ETA: on her flight to Nashville, she has a whole row to herself. Despite the fact there are probably plenty of people that would love to be heading that direction 🤯

To your last point, that is wild - and I noticed at least 2 seats near us empty on our flight yesterday morning too. I find it hard to believe that nobody wanted them so WTF Southwest? You are cancelling all these people but aren't even completely filling the planes you are flying?

The plane could’ve been fully booked but the people didn’t show up or were late/missed the flight.
I would not be surprised if people got different flights, drove or changed their travel plans but didn’t or weren’t able to get through to southwest to officially cancel in time.

Sorry for everyone dealing with this huge mess!

[Velar Fricative]

I can’t believe it is still such a nightmare. Over 60% of flights were cancelled today. Luggage made it to destinations without their owners, passengers AND crews are still stranded…SW is in deep shit and I’d be concerned if I had any flights with them not just in the coming days and weeks, but also months.

[sofamonkey]

How are they able to charge THOUSANDS of dollars to rebook?? On a flight THEY canceled. That’s incomprehensible to me.

[isabel]

Dec 27, 2022 17:56:43 GMT -5 karinothing said:

Dec 27, 2022 17:53:28 GMT -5 erbear said:

It's pretty insane. SW is a huge carrier here and accounted for something like 80% of the cancelled flights this weekend.

@@
A friend was saying today that her son (12) was supposed to fly as an UA minor to her parents' this morning. Got up at 4:30am for a 6:15 flight (on time -- the flight left) but when they got to the airport, they told them he couldn't board the flight bc they weren't taking UA minors. WTF? Why didn't someone tell them?!

The airline industry is out of control and really needs some regulation. Passengers have no rights, it seems.

Oh wow. That sucks.

SW is really bas at notifying folks IMO. When we a flight cancelled due to the tropical storm in Nov. I knew long before sw told me because the airport closed. Sw took hours to notify us.

United on the other hand sends me 8 million messages about 2 min time changes.

My mom was supposed to fly home on SW yesterday. They didn't notify her at all that her flight was cancelled. The only reason we found out is because we were talking about it at dinner on Monday night and I went into the app and checked her flight.

Thankfully, my mom travels frequently and was able to book a ticket on American with points to get home on time, but I have been thinking a lot about the families who can't afford to re-book or who missed out on a once-a-year trip because of these cancellations. It's awful.

[pixy0stix]

I'm really hoping this kicks off an overhaul of the industry as a whole.

[basilosaurus]

Dec 28, 2022 23:07:30 GMT -5 sofamonkey said:

How are they able to charge THOUSANDS of dollars to rebook?? On a flight THEY canceled. That’s incomprehensible to me.

I think it's because people ended up booking on other airlines.

With most domestic carriers they have some reciprocity. SWA I believe it's complete out of that or at least they were many years ago, and I doubt things have changed. So people are just outright buying whatever they can, if they can, and hoping for the best.

[al dente]

Dec 28, 2022 22:32:01 GMT -5 Velar Fricative said:

I can’t believe it is still such a nightmare. Over 60% of flights were cancelled today. Luggage made it to destinations without their owners, passengers AND crews are still stranded…SW is in deep shit and I’d be concerned if I had any flights with them not just in the coming days and weeks, but also months.

I feel like this is a dumb question... But how is luggage getting there if the people aren't? I always thought your bags just went under your own plane so traveled with you the whole way.

[basilosaurus]

Dec 29, 2022 3:03:19 GMT -5 al dente said:

Dec 28, 2022 22:32:01 GMT -5 Velar Fricative said:

I can’t believe it is still such a nightmare. Over 60% of flights were cancelled today. Luggage made it to destinations without their owners, passengers AND crews are still stranded…SW is in deep shit and I’d be concerned if I had any flights with them not just in the coming days and weeks, but also months.

I feel like this is a dumb question... But how is luggage getting there if the people aren't? I always thought your bags just went under your own plane so traveled with you the whole way.

They (theoretically) try, but it can go wherever/whenever there's room. So if you miss a flight as a person the luggage may still get there.

I remember at summer camp we had to send our trunks home a day early, and they were usually waiting. Alternatively they still might arrive days later.
It was a small regional airport surrounded by camps all basically starting and ending the same day so it was apparently a logistical nightmare. Kinda like, you know, over 60% of flights getting cancelled and people going standby however they can.

[underwaterrhymes]

Dec 29, 2022 3:03:19 GMT -5 al dente said:

Dec 28, 2022 22:32:01 GMT -5 Velar Fricative said:

I can’t believe it is still such a nightmare. Over 60% of flights were cancelled today. Luggage made it to destinations without their owners, passengers AND crews are still stranded…SW is in deep shit and I’d be concerned if I had any flights with them not just in the coming days and weeks, but also months.

I feel like this is a dumb question... But how is luggage getting there if the people aren't? I always thought your bags just went under your own plane so traveled with you the whole way.

There was a woman on TikTok who said that SW told her that she could not get her bags, which were in her departure city which she also never left, until her bags traveled WITHOUT her to her destination city and then made their way back to the departure city.

[SusanBAnthony]

I know this doesn't work for everyone, for various reasons, but this is why I never check a bag. My anxiety over my bag getting lost ruins the trip for me. I'd rather live with less stuff but know I have it on my person. I almost always do laundry while on a week long trip, even if it's in the hotel sink by hand.

I'm so sympathetic to people who are stuck and can't just throw down 2k for a ticket on a different airline (imagine 2k if you have a party of 4 people!). Or if you aren't somewhere with a free place to stay!

I imagine SW should cancel a bunch of flights a week+ out to try to get people to stop flying away from home and give them a chance to recover with all the people and bags that are currently away from home.

[Deleted]

It’s such a mess. There was a Southwest official on TV saying “people can submit receipts” for travel and hotel expenses….but he did not say that they will be reimbursed. Just that they can submit receipts. I doubt people will actually be made whole from this.

[konapoppy]

Dec 29, 2022 7:25:42 GMT -5 SusanBAnthony said:

I know this doesn't work for everyone, for various reasons, but this is why I never check a bag. My anxiety over my bag getting lost ruins the trip for me. I'd rather live with less stuff but know I have it on my person. I almost always do laundry while on a week long trip, even if it's in the hotel sink by hand.

I get this, but it was also the holidays and I imagine many checked bags had gifts.

[basilosaurus]

Dec 29, 2022 8:10:27 GMT -5 konapoppy said:

Dec 29, 2022 7:25:42 GMT -5 SusanBAnthony said:

I know this doesn't work for everyone, for various reasons, but this is why I never check a bag. My anxiety over my bag getting lost ruins the trip for me. I'd rather live with less stuff but know I have it on my person. I almost always do laundry while on a week long trip, even if it's in the hotel sink by hand.

I get this, but it was also the holidays and I imagine many checked bags had gifts.

That plus it's winter.

I can easily travel a month with hand luggage. But that's to mostly warm (ish) places. Also, I'm solo usually with no kids and a fellow light travelel partner.

Last year when I was going an indeterminate time to a place it might snow, and boy howdy did it with a blizzard not seen in my lifetime, I had a bulky and heavy bag. I hated it! I'm also very glad I had it.

[mpm]

I feel so bad for the people whose lives could be absolutely devastated by this. How many of the travelers affected don’t have the money or available credit to just buy new tickets or lodging, can’t swing waiting a month or more for reimbursement for expenses, can’t afford to miss work or will be fired if they can’t return to their jobs as scheduled?

@@ I saw a post on twitter about a family that had checked three car seats and couldn’t get them back when their flights were cancelled and rescheduled to five days later. We never check our car seats for a number of reasons, but so many do. What if they were a single-car family and those were their only car seats? The logistics of having to replace hundreds of dollars worth of car seats just to be able to leave the airport safely and legally are staggering.

[icedcoffee]

They are huge in my area so lots of friends were affected. One friend was supposed to fly to FL but their flight was cancelled so they decided to drive but SW told them their bags that were already checked could not be claimed. They had to fly to FL. It’s been a week and still no bags. Eventually they assume they will fly to FL and then need to be shipped back home to them. It’s such a mess and so dumb. Like if the flight is cancelled doesn’t it make sense to return the bags to the baggage claim?

I love SW generally because of their free change policy but they clearly have issues that need to be fixed.

[icedcoffee]

Dec 29, 2022 6:24:23 GMT -5 underwaterrhymes said:

Dec 29, 2022 3:03:19 GMT -5 al dente said:

I feel like this is a dumb question... But how is luggage getting there if the people aren't? I always thought your bags just went under your own plane so traveled with you the whole way.

There was a woman on TikTok who said that SW told her that she could not get her bags, which were in her departure city which she also never left, until her bags traveled WITHOUT her to her destination city and then made their way back to the departure city.

Yes this is exactly what happened to my friends. It makes no sense.

[wanderingback]

Dec 29, 2022 7:25:42 GMT -5 SusanBAnthony said:

I know this doesn't work for everyone, for various reasons, but this is why I never check a bag. My anxiety over my bag getting lost ruins the trip for me. I'd rather live with less stuff but know I have it on my person. I almost always do laundry while on a week long trip, even if it's in the hotel sink by hand.

I'm so sympathetic to people who are stuck and can't just throw down 2k for a ticket on a different airline (imagine 2k if you have a party of 4 people!). Or if you aren't somewhere with a free place to stay!

I imagine SW should cancel a bunch of flights a week+ out to try to get people to stop flying away from home and give them a chance to recover with all the people and bags that are currently away from home.

I never check luggage, but once I thought I bought comfort plus on delta so I could board earlier but somehow I messed up and didn’t so I didn’t get early boarding and they made me check my bag cause the overhead bins were full and I was so annoyed. Then I got on the plane and there were a few open bin spots so I was like grrrr even more. Our flight was delayed and I knew i likely wouldn’t make our connection so I was extra mad. So yep missed the connection and spent night in hotel without my bag. Sometimes they force you to check a bag.

Once on the way to Haiti we had checked equipment and our flight was cancelled after waiting for a few hours due to some crew issues. Yeah they never let you get your checked bags once they’re on the plane. That is when I realized that I def never wanted to check a bag if I could avoid it, but that obviously doesn’t work 100% of the time.

[Velar Fricative]

I love checking luggage. Nothing better than being as hands-free as possible when roaming the airport, @@this was especially helpful a few weeks ago when I flew with my two kids but not with DH@@.

And I say that as someone who had a lost piece of luggage years ago en route to a vacation that never was found.

[Jalapeñomel]

Dec 29, 2022 9:54:49 GMT -5 Velar Fricative said:

I love checking luggage. Nothing better than being as hands-free as possible when roaming the airport, @@this was especially helpful a few weeks ago when I flew with my two kids but not with DH@@.

And I say that as someone who had a lost piece of luggage years ago en route to a vacation that never was found.

I agree with this. Plus watching people stuff giant oversized bags overhead, stopping up the people behind you trying to board the plane, and then all the Karens in the airport trying to game the system by wearing three coats and stuffing their shirts with crap and then unloading on the plane.