Do the airlines have to immediately credit your charge card when they cancel your flight ?

No. If so, Southwest would need hundreds of people to accomplish this task. Some people were waiting in line for five hours at the airport just to speak to an agent.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: ZSMICHAEL,

I now need to figure out how to get my refund from Southwest. Woke up yesterday to the cancellation of my flight today. Earliest reschedule got me to my destination on Sunday causing me to miss the wedding I planned to attend Saturday.
Can't get through to a live person and their website sucks.
Been a big fan of them for years but they have royally screwed the pooch with this incident.

I never understood why people loved Southwest so much. Their policy on seating alone ensured that I would never fly with them.

quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:
I never understood why people loved Southwest so much. Their policy on seating alone ensured that I would never fly with them.

Prior to this incident about 15 years of pretty much on time or better flights, no lost bags and a really good policy on flight changes. I was A list for years so seating was simple and quick.

They don't have first class, do they?

I had an absolutely horrendous experience with American Airlines about this issue that stretched months and months.

I eventually had the involve the CEO’s office. It was not fun or pretty.

Where is our transportation secretary Mayor Pete?

Pretty sure that Congresscrittersngroomers.gov has a hand in this mess …

Interesting to read that Southwest is blaming the problem on 1) the winter storm which disrupted their ground operations and then the majority of the problem resulted from 2) their lack of proper software to match legal aircrews with current aircraft locations.

According to their leadership, this is something they used to do manually. Now they're just too big to solve it without software.

Having spent 40 years in the IT Services arena, I know how hard it was to convince companies like this that their old, outdated and improperly sized software solutions needed to be completely replaced. Not many people in top leadership would be willing to make the investment. They preferred to kick the software can down the road for the next leadership team.

I bet Southwest is willing to do it now.

My understanding is that after the recent weather Southwest had so many planes and crews in the wrong cities at the wrong times that they did what amounted to a reboot - canceled just about every flight - and took a day to shuffle planes and crews around to get back on schedule.

Beat by Rucker

Lots of workers not showing up to work…

If you believe it’s IT systems, I have a bridge to sell you. (Management consulting to leadership was my profession for the last 20+ years.)

I’m sure they could deal with some tech improvements… But that’s not “the problem”.

Because no one saw this storm coming. Oh wait, it was all over the news a few days out and everyone with a TV or internet saw it coming.

As for the software, kinda convenient to blame inanimate objects when there is leadership that is the one who dropped the ball.

Just had a news notification pop up on my screen. Southwest just canceled another 2,500 trips today. Yikes.

ETA: Make that 3,500.

We knew the storm was coming but the tickets were already sold. It would suck to be in the airport. I would be trying to rent a car. Things could go perfectly and SW just doesn't have the personnel or seats to catch up.

I'll agree that Leadership will nearly always try to find somewhere to shift the blame. But I don't see this as a leadership failure DURING the crisis - but BEFORE the crisis. High level leaders in companies this size do not control anything directly. In my experience, they are - by design - insulated from the day to day operations.

So I guess we'll agree to disagree on that one.

Thanks to Blackmore for the hat tip.

quote:

Originally posted by SIGnified:
Lots of workers not showing up to work…

Do not apply that logic to the pilot and flight attendant work groups. HUNDREDS of pilots and F/A’s were/are sitting around in crew rooms (even sleeping there…on the floor) ready to recover the operation. The computer system can’t figure out where airplanes and crews are to get anything moving. So yes…it’s a computer issue.

Please be careful with those “blanket statements”.

So now the airline is allowed to set on $30,000,000 for days maybe two weeks,
While incurring interest ?

Without offering services?
That can't be right.

Airlines are now effectively banks… thats how the economics work.

quote:

Originally posted by bendable:
Do the airlines have to immediately credit your charge card when they cancel your flight ?

During Covid, Hawaiian Airlines cancelled 4 of my flights.

They sent me an email asking if I wanted to reschedule or if I wanted a refund.