COLUMBUS, Ohio — Southwest Airlines is continuing to cancel flights departing from Columbus Thursday until the airline can get more planes in the air.
Meanwhile, Buckeye fans headed to Atlanta to watch Ohio State play Georgia on Saturday say their 3:30 p.m. Southwest flight was delayed about 20 minutes.
“Hopefully we and our luggage will get there,” said Eric Bain of Columbus.
Bain and other Buckeye fans 10TV spoke to said they had already booked their flights on Southwest from Atlanta to Los Angeles should Ohio State win the Peach Bowl.
Even those not flying on Southwest said they had made alternative plans should their plan fight not make it to Georgia.
“The car is here in the parking lot at the long-term parking just in case something happened to our flights. We are prepared to drive to Atlanta if we have to,” said Joyce Thompson of St. Clairsville.
Despite Southwest Airlines melt down during the winter storm, travelers say they aren’t holding it against the airline and plant to continue to give them their travel business.
“I've been going to bowl games since the 1970s. I always buy on Southwest,” said Bain.
“They've always been super reliable in the past. Customer service is excellent,” said Jennica Semon.
Southwest Airlines' management publicly apologized for the canceled flights and baggage that arrived at airports across the country with no passengers to pick them up.
A pilot for the airline took to the Facebook page of the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association trying to explain the issues plaguing the airlines and why it happened to Southwest — not its competitors.
Pilot Larry Lonero wrote a long message saying the mass cancellations were a "... punch in the gut for us front-line employees. We are embarrassed. We are sad. Like you, the traveling public, we have been let down by our own leaders."
According to CBS News, “two Democratic senators are calling on the carrier to make travelers whole with "significant monetary compensation for the disruption to their holiday plans. Southwest is planning to issue a $428 million dividend next year – the company can afford to do right by the consumers it has harmed," Senators Edward Markey of Massachusetts and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut said Tuesday.”
Southwest on Tuesday had canceled more than 2,660, or 65%, of its scheduled flights as of 8 p.m., according to flight-tracking website FlightAware. That accounted for more than half of the roughly 5,000 flights scrapped today.
Other airlines also continue to experience disruptions, with Southwest leading the way with 870 delayed flights.