Hundreds of Southwest Airlines flights were canceled over the weekend, a result of air traffic control issues and weather, according to media reports.
The Los Angeles Times is reporting that Southwest Airlines canceled more than 1,000 flights, or 28% of its scheduled flights, as of 2 p.m. Sunday, according to flight tracker FlightAware. By comparison, Allegiant Airlines canceled 5% of its flights over the same time period, and Spirit airlines canceled 4% of its flights.
American Airlines canceled 2% of its flights, according to the tracker. There were 367 Southwest Airlines flights canceled as of 8:15 a.m. Monday, according to FlightAware.com. There were at least 1,800 Southwest Airline flights canceled nationwide over the weekend — and more than 1,000 flights canceled on Sunday, according to Fox 11.
In an emailed statement reported by the L.A. Times, Southwest Airlines said it had experienced weather challenges in its Florida airports at the beginning of the weekend, and had unexpected air traffic control issues in the same region.
Those challenges led to delays and cancellations for Southwest Airlines beginning Friday. Southwest Airlines said it is directing customers to use self-service rebooking options on Southwest.com, where updates on the status of their travel plans are available.