Behind Southwest’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad week

Snow and ice weren’t the only things that started melting after last week's winter storm. Southwest Airlines, the largest carrier of US domestic passengers, also experienced a Christmas meltdown, canceling ~16,000 flights from December 22–29 and stranding hundreds of thousands of passengers – including a bride who missed her wedding.

🚫✈️ What happened?... While the winter storm caused initial industry-wide flight cancellations and delays, other airlines like United, Delta, etc., were back operating at full capacity soon afterward. But not Southwest, which accounted for ~95% of the more than 2,500 canceled flights in the US last Thursday (December 29).

The driving reason behind this meltdown? Just like a boomer with a BlackBerry in a belt holster, Southwest is using outdated technology.

The airline relies on a crew-assignment software called SkySolver, which was initially developed decades ago. And even though it’s been customized and updated over time, the program isn’t equipped to handle Southwest’s scale. Meaning that whenever hiccups – like adverse weather events – arise, the system requires a lot of manual work.

When Southwest flights are canceled, employees staffing the plane are required to call a hotline to let the company know where they are. This is how crew members receive new flight assignments, or how emergency hotel rooms are booked.

And with thousands of canceled flights, not enough hotline operators, and a software system that kept crashing while being used, reassignments became… difficult.

• Pilots and crew members calling in after canceled flights were put on hold, with waits ranging from three, six, eight, and 12 hours – and even one of 17 hours (!).
• To complicate matters even further, these long hold times led to many of the employees “timing out“ – a phrase related to an FAA safety requirement mandating a certain amount of rest for crews while traveling – thus rendering them unable to be assigned to another flight.

This all took around a week to get corrected; Southwest’s flight schedule was mostly back to normal over the weekend. 

🔥 The fallout: While the company has pledged to cover all reasonable expenses for those whose travel plans were messed up due to its mishaps, it should be noted that the airline hasn’t yet publicly defined “reasonable.” 

But its Chief Commercial Officer, Ryan Green, did publicly say that this debacle will “certainly” impact its Q4 earnings.

• A similar incident in October 2021 cost the airline ~$75 million. But this most recent event lasted longer, and occurred during a busier and more expensive time to travel.

+Resource: If you were affected by Southwest's breakdown, you can make a reimbursement request here.