Southwest Airlines appeared to be finally resuming normal operations Friday after a tumultuous holiday week filled with widespread cancellations.
All flights were scheduled to go at Dallas Love Field with nothing in the red — in vast contrast to last week when more than 60% of flights were cancelled by Southwest Airlines, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
“The flight was wonderful, everything was wonderful,” Gloria Fuller, a passenger of Southwest Airlines, said to Fox 4.
Southwest Airlines seemed to blame the slew of cancellations on winter weather, which encompassed many of the cities it was supposed to fly to.
“Your flight attendants are very sorry for having to say ‘we’re sorry’ to you. We’re going to hold the executives accountable to get this repaired,” said Lyn Montgomery, the president of TWU 556, a union representing Southwest flight attendants.
Montgomery placed the blame squarely on Southwest Airlines’ outdated systems for flying, including point-to-point travel.
“I think Southwest Airlines will do what it can to make things right with its customers. I am very leery about whether it will really work to make things right with the flight attendants and workers that have been suffering for quite a long time,” Montgomery said.
One public relations expert said that Southwest Airlines is going to need to spend more time rebuilding its image.
“The challenge that they’re going to face is not just weathering this storm — it is what are they going to do in the weeks and months ahead when they come under a lot of pressure to make good on their pledges to actually upgrade their systems and take real concrete steps to make sure that this doesn’t again to their customers,” Evan Nierman, CEO of Red Banyan Crisis PR, said to CBS.
In an interview with CNN, Southwest Airlines CEO Bob Jordan apologized for the airline’s issues.
“This has impacted so many people — so many customers — over the holiday,” Jordan said. “I’m extremely sorry for that. There’s just no way almost to apologize enough.”
