Southwest has canceled hundreds of flights because of weather and maintenance issues — and passengers are furious (LUV)

Graham Rapier

February 21, 2019 11:17 PM

Southwest Airlines canceled nearly 400 flights on Thursday and delayed hundreds more.
In a statement to Business Insider, a Southwest spokesperson pointed to a statement from head of operations, Mike Van de Ven on Wednesday , in which the executive blamed ongoing negotiations with a mechanics union for an "unprecedented" number of flight delays.
Some passengers were frustrated and took to Twitter to vent.

Southwest Airlines canceled nearly 400 flights on Thursday and delayed hundreds more as its scuffle with a mechanics union and unusual winter weather in Las Vegas wreaked havoc on its operations.

By 3 pm Eastern, the low-cost carrier had canceled 388 flights, or 9% of its scheduled service, and delayed 488 others, according to flight aware, leaving some customers furious.

In a statement to Business Insider, a Southwest spokesperson pointed to a statement from head of operations, Mike Van de Ven on Wednesday , in which the executive blamed ongoing negotiations with a mechanics union for an "unprecedented" number of flight delays.

"The airline continues to experience a higher-than-average number of out-of-service aircraft and is operating under a staffing protocol enacted late last week to maximize availability of Mechanics to address maintenance items and safely return aircraft to service," the spokesperson added.

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