Written By: Addison Snider, Staff Writer
DISASTER: Southwest Airlines leaves millions stranded over the Holidays due to ‘System Failures’
President Joe Biden has called the latest Southwest debacle a ‘System Failure’, holding the airline company liable for the millions affected by cancellations. The billion dollar airline blames the thousands of flight cancellations rocking North American airports on the winter storm that hit the nation over the holidays, though Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg explained that the insane amount of cancellations can not be justified by ‘The Blizzard of the Century’. Other American Airline companies have been quick to recover so what is the reason for Southwest’s prolonged failure to bounce back?
One reason for Southwest’s system failure was due to something that occurred a few years ago. In March 2020, the world shut down, businesses closed, people isolated themselves, and our way of living was changed forever. The airline industry suffered particularly during the pandemic; airlines struggled to operate around the CDC’s safety guidelines and a drop in passenger numbers. During these struggles, the number of airline workers dropped significantly. As restrictions have eased, the amount of passengers has risen greatly, but staffing remains a pressing issue. With the news of a large blizzard, there was a sure number of people in the US who decided to vacation somewhere warmer. This increased demand led to more flights, but the aforementioned staffing shortage led to mass groundings. Though this is among the major problems that lead to the this collapse.
Communication is an integral part of the Transportation industry. Southwest’s failure in communication is another reason for its prolonged recovery. The company’s public relations have been greatly harmed by a breakdown in the phone systems. Stranded Southwest passengers have been unable to reach the company’s customer service lines to rebook flights or find lost baggage. Moreover, customers aren’t the only ones unable to get through to the airline. Employees have been left reeling with no way to receive instruction from management. Due to the shortage of airline workers, there just isn’t enough manpower to tame the chaos that has erupted in Southwest Airlines’ communication system.
Southwest has been using a system that has been outdated for 30 years, which has inevitably bit back. This system uses a very aggressive schedule that includes shorter flights with tighter turnaround times. These short flights tend to clog the system, which is what we are seeing now. A Chief Operating Officer for Southwest has explained in press releases that the outdated scheduling system has quickly become the main culprit for the prolonged recovery from the storm. When crews became stranded due to weather or technical issues, Southwest’s schedule had to be reorganized by human hands. The reason for this? The scheduling software just can’t keep up. Matching a crew to a plane is difficult, but there is another issue. The Federal Aviation Administration strictly regulates when and where flight crews can work – which makes rapid scheduling difficult – lead to one of the largest problems in the ‘system failure’ that toppled Southwest Airlines’ reputation and future.
For Southwest, this is no new concern/problem.. Outdated systems and communication problems have been an issue for a while. According to Captain Casey Murry(President of the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association), “We’ve been having these issues for the past 20 months. We’ve seen these sorts of meltdowns occur on a much more regular basis and it really just has to do with outdated processes and outdated IT.” Southwest’s systems haven’t changed much since the 1990s. With the greatly facilitated access to technology we enjoy today, it is difficult to believe that the systems couldn’t have been updated.
Shortages of staff? Failures in communication with customers and employees? An overwhelmed scheduling system causing employees to work overtime? All of these circle the main issue, the fact that a system that affects millions hasn’t been updated in over three decades. This may be the ultimate reason for the system failure, which makes you ponder the question:
What caused a billion-dollar company, one able to afford the massive infrastructure required for operating aircraft, to refuse to update a system decades old? Hmmmm?