Houston man misses Boston Marathon because of cancelled flights, airline blames 'weather and external' issues

Southwest Airlines cancels, delays hundreds of flights

FOX 26 Reporter Matthew Seedorff spoke with some travelers who were affected by cancellations or delays from Southwest Airlines.

HOUSTON - Thousands of Southwest Airlines passengers are slowly arriving at their destinations after hundreds of delays and cancellations over the holiday weekend.

On Monday, we met a family trying to get to Orlando, Florida. The family of three says their Southwest flight had been cancelled three times over two days.

[We’ve] been on the phone 16 hours with Southwest [and] 11 hours with Disney trying to reschedule," said Angelique Perez.

Dean Digamon had been in Illinois for the Chicago Marathon on Sunday. The runner from Houston was booked on a Southwest flight Sunday afternoon from Chicago to Boston. Digamon had planned to run in Monday’s Boston Marathon.

"There was no way to rebook another flight on the app," said Digamon.

According to Digamon, he gave up on the airline and rented a car. Unfortunately, he spent hundreds of dollars on the travel costs and didn’t arrive in Boston early enough to run in the marathon.

"I signed up to be somebody’s guide at the Boston Marathon," said Digamon. "It was an athlete with a disability. I felt like I needed to do whatever I could to be there with that athlete."

A spokesperson from Southwest Airlines blamed weather and air traffic control issues on the hundreds of delays and cancellations.

On Monday, we interviewed a former Southwest pilot about the issue. The former pilot chose to stay anonymous.

"The airline owes it to its employees to be truthful," said the former Southwest pilot. "I don’t think we’re getting the full story. It seems like when there are holiday weekends, and there’s a hiccup in the system, they don’t have enough employees available."

Last week, Southwest announced a new mandatory COVID-19 vaccine policy for workers that will begin in December. A spokesperson for the airline claims "…the operational challenges were not a result of Southwest Employee demonstrations" against the new policy.

"We’re talking about pilots that are mentally stressed to the point where they don’t feel like they can go to work," said the former pilot. "I feel like the mandatory vaccine policy is a part of the equation."

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Some Southwest flights were delayed out of Houston’s Hobby Airport on Monday. If you have any concerns about future travel plans, check with your airline.

"I think you’re going to see the same thing come Thanksgiving," said the former anonymous pilot. "You’re going to see the same thing come Christmas. The schedules are built so tight, and the pilots are flying right up to the maximum allowable, that when there’s a hiccup in the system they don’t have enough pilots to call out legally to keep flying. So, there’s a smaller pool to draw from that are legal to fly. Those pilots are already under so much stress that they’re a lot less likely to want to answer the phone and work extra."

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