Southwest offers apology, cancels more flights at RSW

Reporter: Claire Galt Writer: Matthew Seaver
Published: Updated:

People trying to get home after the holidays are now stuck after a massive backlog by Southwest Airlines. There are mountains of bags that are filling Southwest Florida International Airport with no one claiming them.

Southwest has issued an apology, but that apology does very little for people who are stranded and whose stuff is missing.

Dave Allis has been walking up and down the rows of luggage for the past five days, looking for his daughter’s dark blue suitcase.

Allis searching for daughter’s luggage at RSW. (Credit: WINK News)

“Seeing if it just happens to be hanging around,” said Allis.

He doesn’t think he’ll find it, but he keeps trying.

“We just happen to have a party scheduled for New Year’s, like a lot of people, and then happens to be my birthday,” Allis said. “We were planning a nice, fancy dinner, and she had nice fancy clothes. And now it’s jeans and t-shirts.”

Allis’ daughter flew in from Denver five days ago on a Southwest Airlines flight.

The airline has been canceling flights and losing and stranding people’s bags.

“My bag is stuck in Orlando. I don’t know why,” said one traveler at RSW.

“Yep, my bag is gone. Flew in from Toronto, and it’s gone,” said another traveler.

Southwest Airlines CEO Bob Jordan is apologizing to all of the travelers who have been impacted by the recent issues. “I’m truly sorry.” He said the airline was going to make things right.

“We always take care of our customers. And we will lean in and go above and beyond as they would expect us to. Teams are working on all of that: processing refunds, proactively reaching out and taking care of customers who are dealing with costly detours and reroutes, as just a few examples,” said Jordan.

As of Wednesday, the travelers who spoke with WINK News have not heard anything from the airline.

Southwest canceled another 45 flights on Wednesday. That means hundreds more people hoping to get to or get out of Southwest Florida on Southwest Airlines are stuck where they don’t want to be.

Allis, who was looking for his daughter’s luggage, said he appreciates the Southwest employees who have tried to help him. He said he hopes management gets its act together sooner than later.

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