Southwest Airlines cancellation spree continuing

Examine the factors which may be behind the cancellations, delays

DALLAS, TX (KYMA, KECY/CNN) - Southwest Airlines has canceled thousands of flights since Friday, with some speculating coronavirus-related causes or possible employee strikes.

However, the airline reports a recent vaccine mandate did not jeopardize employees, leading to the multi-day meltdown of its flight schedule. Nor did it inspire the pilot's union to "call in sick" as an act of protest.

In a statement Monday, Southwest Airlines shared:

Southwest Airlines extends a tremendous apology to our Customers and Employees for the flight cancellations and delays which occurred over the weekend and on Monday.

On Friday evening, the airline ended the day with numerous cancellations, primarily created by weather and other external constraints, which left aircraft and Crews out of pre-planned positions to operate our schedule on Saturday.

Unfortunately, the out-of-place aircraft and continued strain on our Crew resources created additional cancelations across our point-to-point network that cascaded throughout the weekend and into Monday.

Southwest Teams have been working diligently to restore stability to the network, and we are experiencing less disruptions on Monday. We hope to restore our full schedule as soon as possible.

As a note, the operational challenges were not a result of Southwest Employee demonstrations.

To every Customer that experienced a cancellation or delay, Southwest offers our sincerest regret regarding disrupted travel plans, and we look forward to a future opportunity to demonstrate our safe, reliable, friendly, and legendary Southwest Hospitality – something that Customers should always expect from Southwest Airlines.

Senior News Editor with The Points Guy Clint Henderson said, "It may not be a sickout, but the timing is raising questions, because Southwest's union sued the government last week over the vaccine mandate."