Airlines canceled hundreds of weekend flights and thousands more were delayed as thunderstorms in Florida slowed traffic in one of the country’s top travel destinations during spring break.
Storms in Florida and a technology issue at Southwest Airlines stranded travelers across the country and created long wait times to reach airline customer service. As of 3:15 p.m. ET Sunday, over 3,400 flights have been canceled and 3,400 flights have been canceled this weekend, according to flight tracker FlightAware.
CNBC is reporting that thunderstorms are especially challenging for airlines because they are harder to predict and plan for compared with other weather like winter storms and hurricanes, during which airlines often cancel flights hours if not days in advance.
The disruptions caused by thunderstorms tend to cascade because crews and planes are left out of position for their assignments.
Southwest, the nation’s largest domestic carrier, was the hardest hit by flights being delayed or canceled. Southwest canceled 520 flights, or 14 percent of its Saturday schedule, and had 1,512 delays, or 43 percent of scheduled flights. About 400 flights, 10 percent of Southwest’s Sunday schedule, were canceled and another 25 percent, or more than 900, were delayed.
Earlier on Saturday, Southwest had briefly paused departures to perform checks on a backend system that it had reset as part of regular maintenance overnight, reports USAToday. Then, the thunderstorms hit, exacerbating the problem.
“With widespread cancellations in the midst of a busy travel season, hotel rooms were unavailable in a few cities, and late-day Crew timeouts in those cities meant that some Crew Members were left without rooms,” Southwest said in a note to crews on Sunday, which was seen by CNBC. “We take that shortfall seriously and are working to follow up with affected crew members.”
Air traffic controllers slowed or paused inbound traffic altogether at several Florida airports Saturday, including Orlando International Airport, Miami International Airport, and Tampa International Airport.
Budget airline Spirit, which has its headquarters and largest hub in Fort Lauderdale, has had the highest percentage of weekend cancellations, with 27 percent of both Saturday and Sunday flights canceled.
Travelers whose flights are canceled by the airline are due a refund and not just a travel credit, regardless of the reason for a flight.
The problem for many travelers is that they still need to get home or to their destination and the refund won’t cover pricey last-minute flights on other airlines. In those cases, the only option is to accept the next available flight the airline offers, even if it’s not the same day.
