Airlines
Southwest Airlines Struggles To Normalize Stricken Ops
After a schedule meltdown triggered by winter storms over the Christmas holiday weekend, Southwest Airlines slashed two-thirds of its flights.
Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 airplane in Manchester, New Hampshire in winter
Crews deice a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 in Manchester, New Hampshire, in 2010. (Photo: Flickr: Creative Commons (BY) by jronaldlee)

Southwest Airlines continued its struggle to recover from the arctic weather system known as a “bomb cyclone” that descended on the continental U.S. over the Christmas holiday weekend as operations personnel on Tuesday scrambled to realign flight crew positioning and accommodate stranded passengers. The situation at Southwest left customers stuck throughout the U.S. as the airline cut two-thirds of its schedule on Monday and confirmed plans to operate roughly a third of its normal service capacity until at least Thursday.

In a statement, Southwest called the “challenges” faced by customers and employees unacceptable.