The Southwest flight cancellation catastrophe is not a new one for the Dallas based airline. Remember, it was just last fall that Southwest had to cancel thousands of flights, even though most industry analysts believe it was due to staffing shortages, brought on by the Biden vaccine mandate.
"Look, they're apologizing" said aviation expert Jay Ratliff, "And unfortunately for passengers, they're getting messages from Southwest saying "they apologize that the weather" is the reason that the flights are being cancelled. I'm sorry folks, this isn't a weather event, it's a lack of operational preparedness on the part of Southwest Airlines."
It's a problem that really started when Southwest lost nearly a 1/4 of it's workforce, coming out of the pandemic. And despite receiving billions in bail-out money from the federal government, Southwest has refused to upgrade their technology, as well as their communication system. All of which starts at the top, with upper management.
"When I hear the CEO from Southwest say in an internal memo, that they don't have the proper tools to get the job done, it's very clear that it is an operational problem that's brought on by management" Ratliff told KTRH, "But the bottom line is, you've wrecked the holidays for a lot of people."
And now it appears that Southwest has also wrecked what once was, a sterling reputation.
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