Another 192 Southwest Flights Canceled At BWI, How To Get A Refund

LINTHICUM, MD — As Southwest Airlines continues its struggle to get planes and crews to airports, about 2,400 flights across the United States were canceled Thursday, including 192 scheduled at Baltimore/Washington International Airport.

The airline issued a second apology Wednesday night and rolled out features on its website to apply for a ticket refund, seek reimbursement for hotel rooms and other expenses, and track down lost luggage.

Southwest has been affected more than any other airline by last week's massive winter storm. Of the nearly 2,800 flights within, into or out of the United States that had been canceled Wednesday, over 2,500 of them are Southwest. The airline said it would operate roughly a third of its schedule over the next several days.

According to FlightAware, out of 190 flights canceled Thursday at BWI Airport, all of them are Southwest flights.

“I want to speak to every single person disrupted by our challenges, and I want to offer you three things,” Southwest's Chief Commercial Officer Ryan Green said in a video message Wednesday, explaining that the airline has "specific, new resources" to help customers get information and service more quickly.

Southwest is now offering extended flexibility for self-service travel changes through January 2, which according to Green, means that anyone with travel plans with the airline before then should be able to make flight changes directly on the Southwest website without having to speak to anyone.

Green also announced new links on Southwest's website to help customers get their stranded bags, request refunds for canceled flights and submit receipts for reimbursement for travel expenses that resulted from the disruption.

Travelers can fill out this form to request a refund of an unused ticket.

• Related: Southwest Cancellations: Refunds, Reimbursement Requests Announced

According to the flight tracking website FlightAware, nearly 2,451 flights within, into or out of the United States have been canceled Thursday, a majority of which are operated by Southwest.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told CNN that the airline's “system really has completely melted down. I made clear that our department will be holding them accountable for their responsibilities to customers, both to get them through this situation and to make sure that this can’t happen again.”

In a video statement Tuesday, Southwest CEO Bob Jordan said he was "truly sorry."

Southwest employeestold WBAL TV they're just as frustrated as airport customers.

"Our passengers have come to us with tears. Our flight attendants are coming to their union with tears. And, we are coming to management, saying, 'Please let us help get this resolved for all of us,'" said Corliss King, second vice president of the Transport Workers Union Local 556, which represents Southwest's flight attendants.

"As a flight attendant, I can tell you, I worked on Christmas and I worked the day after Christmas myself, and I saw firsthand our fatigued flight attendants are desperately trying to just get information and get home," King said.

A Southwest employee saw 11 News at BWI Airport and told the station some of her coworkers hadn't had much sleep the past few days.

"It breaks our hearts. I have dealt with flight attendants crying that they can't get home, they have to pick up their kids. One gentleman was in danger of losing custody of his child because he had to pick his child up by a certain time," King said.

Buttigieg said the airline was having issues with systems for managing its schedule and crew. He noted that the rest of the aviation industry was on its way to recovery following the worst of the storm with cancellations on other airlines being significantly lower.

Pointing to customer service commitments the department had secured from major airlines over the summer, Buttigieg said they would be using that as a tool for accountability. Jordan pledged that Southwest would not only meet but exceed the customer service standards, according to Buttigieg.

Southwest Airlines added that customers could get their tickets refunded but warned those who plan to immediately rebook that availability is limited. Customers trying to reach the airline's call centers were experiencing long wait times.

Scenes from airports shared on social media this week show bags piled up at airports across the country as customers were left stranded. Customers also faced long hold times when trying to reach the airline over the phone.

Edward Russell, editor of Airline Weekly, told WTOP that “what happened was crews and planes got out of place and Southwest system, old technology systems that schedule those crews and planes and they lost track of where people work. And that’s what we’re seeing the result of over this week.”

“It’s the perfect storm of not enough staff, antiquated tech and a little bit of weather,” said CBS travel editor Peter Greenberg on WTOP.