DENVER (KDVR) — Delays continue for some travelers at Denver International Airport as Southwest Airlines struggles to recover from thousands of canceled flights over the weekend.
Security lines were greatly diminished on Monday, compared to a day earlier, when the line made its way through the baggage claim area.
Southwest tells the FOX31 Problem Solvers the airline is working to restore stability to its network and the situation is improving.
FOX31 spoke with passengers who said the airline made sure they were able to get other flights, others decided to just rent a car and drive.
“I don’t think it’s going to be too much fun because I have a dog,” said a Kentucky resident stranded in Denver.
Travel expert Donna Lee Kreutzer of Genie Travel told FOX31, regardless of which airline you use, always consider your choices carefully if your flight is canceled.
“If there’s availability with another airline of course (passengers) are going to pay out of pocket right there, if they’ve canceled the reservation and you’re needing to put that money out I want to ask for a refund, I don’t want the credit,” she said.
Kreutzer adds that travel agents can assist customers encountering changes due to the pandemic and other disruptions, being able to quickly work with airlines to find solutions. Travel agents can also advise of when to use trip insurance.
Southwest Airlines provided the following statement to FOX31:
Southwest Airlines extends a tremendous apology to our Customers and Employees for the flight cancellations and delays which occurred over the weekend and on Monday.
On Friday evening, the airline ended the day with numerous cancellations, primarily created by weather and other external constraints, which left aircraft and Crews out of pre-planned positions to operate our schedule on Saturday. Unfortunately, the out-of-place aircraft and continued strain on our Crew resources created additional cancelations across our point-to-point network that cascaded throughout the weekend and into Monday.
While we do not have specific airport numbers to share, Southwest Teams have been working diligently to restore stability to the network, and we are experiencing less disruptions on Monday. We hope to restore our full schedule as soon as possible. As a note, the operational challenges were not a result of Southwest Employee demonstrations, as some outlets are reporting.
To every Customer that experienced a cancellation or delay, Southwest offers our sincerest regret regarding disrupted travel plans, and we look forward to a future opportunity to demonstrate our safe, reliable, friendly, and legendary Southwest Hospitality – something that Customers should always expect from Southwest Airlines.