Canceled flights stack up in Boise as Southwest Airlines continues holiday travel recovery
Air travelers attempting to fly through Boise on Southwest Airlines for the busy, end-of-year holidays this week continued to run into delays and cancellations while the air carrier worked to dig itself out from the effects of Winter Storm Elliott.
More than 3,000 flights were canceled Tuesday in the U.S., including international routes in and out of the country, air travel tracking website FlightAware reported. Southwest accounted for the vast majority, stranding passengers — and their luggage — at its hubs, which include Denver, Phoenix Sky Harbor and Chicago Midway.
In Boise, 26 flights were canceled Tuesday — 25 of which were Southwest flights, plus another two that were delayed, according to FlightAware. Only SkyWest Airlines, a regional carrier that partners with several other domestic airlines, canceled a flight locally outside of Southwest among the airport’s eight carriers, to go along with four delays.
The number of cancellations across the U.S. was an improvement from Monday, when the federal government and most companies observed the Christmas holiday. Over 4,000 domestic flights were canceled to kick off the typical workweek — more than 70% of which were Southwest flights.
Southwest, headquartered in Dallas, acknowledged missing the mark in providing service around the holidays to many air travelers who booked flights with the U.S.’s fourth-largest airline.
“With consecutive days of extreme winter weather across our network behind us, continuing challenges are impacting our customers and employees in a significant way that is unacceptable,” Southwest said in a Monday statement. “With no concern higher than ultimate safety, the people of Southwest share a goal to take care of each and every customer. We recognize falling short and sincerely apologize.”
Still, Southwest is facing mounting scrutiny, including from the U.S. Department of Transportation that regulates the nation’s commercial airline industry. The federal agency issued a statement Monday night that it is “concerned by Southwest’s unacceptable rate of cancellations and delays and reports of lack of prompt customer service.”
“The department will examine whether cancellations were controllable and if Southwest is complying with its customer service plan,” the federal agency tweeted.
Another 2,500 flights were already canceled for Wednesday within, and in and out of the U.S., as of Tuesday afternoon. Yet again, the majority are Southwest flights, including two dozen through Boise, FlightAware reported. No other airlines were reporting expected cancellations or delays at the regional air hub.
Meanwhile, the airport — in addition to its seven other airlines — was going about its regular business, Shawna Samuelson, a Boise Airport spokesperson, told the Idaho Statesman on Tuesday.
“Our runways are open and operational,” Samuelson said by email, noting the airport only lends its infrastructure in support of its airlines.
Riding November totals that produced its busiest month ever, the Boise Airport has exceeded its previous passenger record for a single calendar year. About 4.1 million passengers have passed through the airport so far in 2022, which is more than 6,700 above the total set in 2019. December’s numbers won’t be added to that total until sometime in January.
This story was originally published December 27, 2022 at 3:33 PM.
