(New York) The American company Southwest, which canceled more than 15,000 flights in eight days and caused a great mess at airports in the United States, promised that its operations would gradually return to normal on Friday.
The disruptions began with the extreme cold and heavy snowfall that hit the country just before Christmas and affected all airlines.
But traffic more or less resumed on Tuesday, except for Southwest. According to the FlightAware website, 57% of the company’s flights were canceled on Thursday.
Company unions have questioned Southwest’s outdated computer systems, including those affecting crews. The problems have affected the company all the more as its network is much more dispersed than its competitors, whose flights are concentrated around one or more key airports.
“We are encouraged by the progress we have made in realigning crews, their schedules and our fleet,” the group said on its website Thursday.
“As we approach another long holiday weekend filled with important connections for our customers and employees, we look forward to returning to a normal state,” it added.
The company has come under fire for its cascading cancellations, difficulties in contacting its customer service and the many luggage piled up at airports.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said he would take a close look at “what happened with their system”.
Southwest has a page on its site for customers to submit claims for meals, hotel and other transportation expenses used, as well as find their luggage.
“We still have a lot of work to do, including investing in new solutions to manage large-scale disruptions,” the group writes.
