Southwest Airlines: 'Our heartfelt apologies for this are just beginning'

Frustration and disappointment were evident among thousands of passengers at William P. Hobby Airport (HOU) on Monday as Southwest Airlines (SWA) was prompted to either cancel or delay flights, Houston-based media outlets reported. 

A major winter weather disturbance that blanketed much of the U.S. during the busy Christmas holiday travel period played a role in the disruption of many travelers’ plans, with normally warm Houston not immune from the chaos.

Houston ABC affiliate KTRK reported that Dallas-based SWA said it won’t rebook flights until after New Year’s Eve on Saturday. 

At least 3,000 domestic and international flights were cancelled by Monday afternoon, the station reported citing the FlightAware website. 

Hobby’s Twitter account said the airport provided transportation to shuttle stranded passengers to hotels where they’ll be billeted until they’re able to fly out of Houston.

Per Houston NBC affiliate KPRC, it took up to four hours for customers in search of answers to reach an SWA customer service representative on the phone. 

The low-budget carrier said in a statement that the encompassing situation is “unacceptable.” 

“Our heartfelt apologies for this are just beginning,” the statement reads. “We’re working with safety at the forefront to urgently address wide-scale disruption by rebalancing the airline and repositioning crews and our fleet ultimately to best serve all who plan to travel with us … This safety-first work is intentional, ongoing and necessary to return to normal reliability, one that minimizes last-minute inconveniences.”

According to Houston CBS affiliate KHOU, passengers weren’t the only ones experiencing headaches. 

“This is the worst I’ve ever seen in my 27 years of working as a flight attendant for Southwest Airlines," airline employee Lyn Montgomery said in the report.

Montgomery, who serves as the president of a union that represents 18,000 SWA flight attendants, added that the weather alone isn’t to blame. 

“The Southwest Airlines systems cannot recover because we have outdated technology,” she said, per KHOU.