WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — For Southwest Airlines passengers, Tuesday was a lot like Monday, and Wednesday won't likely be much better.
Multiple airlines were swamped by a series of cancellations and delays from a massive winter storm that hit the U.S. this past weekend.
However, many airlines had started to recover from the logjam created by the wintry weather, except Southwest.
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The Dallas-based carrier had canceled 2,689 flights by Tuesday night across the U.S., according to the flight tracking website FlightAware. On average the carrier has 4,000 daily flights.
This figure was by far the most of any domestic carrier with Spirit Airlines having the second most with 101 canceled flights by Tuesday night.
Nearly 2,500 Southwest flights have already been canceled for Wednesday and nearly 1,400 for Thursday, according to FlightAware.
In a video that Southwest posted late Tuesday, CEO Robert Jordan said Southwest would operate a reduced schedule for several days but hoped to be "back on track before next week."
Jordan blamed the winter storm for snarling the airline's "highly complex" network. He said Southwest's tools for recovering from disruptions work "99% of the time, but clearly we need to double down" on upgrading systems to avoid a repeat of this week.
"We have some real work to do in making this right," Jordan, a 34-year Southwest veteran who became CEO in February, said. "For now, I want you to know that we are committed to that."
Southwest spokesman Jay McVay said at a news conference in Houston that cancellations snowballed as storm systems moved across the country, leaving flight crews and planes out of place.
"So we've been chasing our tails, trying to catch up and get back to normal safely, which is our No. 1 priority as quickly as we could," he said. "And that's exactly how we ended up where we are today."
Passengers stood in long lines trying to rebook their flights.
There were 16 flights, 12 of which were Southwest Airlines, canceled at Palm Beach International Airport on Tuesday, the FlightAware website said.
"I checked this morning, and (my flight) was canceled, my second leg from Baltimore to Detroit, so we're trying to get that resolved," traveler Kyran Thurmond said while waiting inside the PBI terminal.
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More than 19,238 total flights within, into or out of the U.S. had been delayed by Tuesday night, while 5,128 flights were canceled. There are around 45,000 flights per day in the U.S.
There were long lines and frustration at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, where 85 Southwest flights were canceled Tuesday.
"We're just trying to see if we can get a refund," traveler Lisa Farris of Coral Springs said as she waited in a long line at the Fort Lauderdale airport. "We booked another flight with another airline."
The baggage area was crowded with unclaimed luggage and the line for the ticket counter had a wait of an hour or more as travelers arrived only to find out there is no flight.
Car rental companies at PBIA said they are seeing a number of people renting cars one way to drive to other airports, or simply driving home if they can't find a flight.
And companies are seeing a demand from people escaping the cold.
Jill Rehm, who was visiting South Florida from Chicago with her family, said there was no trouble getting a rental car.
"It was easy," she said. "We're going to be down here for a week and half so we want to be able to get around. But no lines, no drama, easy, yeah."
Denver, Chicago-Midway, Las Vegas, Baltimore/Washington, Nashville and Dallas were all seeing more than 100 flights canceled at each of these airports.
The Department of Transportation said on Twitter that it was "concerned by Southwest's unacceptable rate of cancellations and delays & reports of lack of prompt customer service." The tweet said the department would look into whether Southwest could have done anything about the cancellations and whether the airline was complying with its customer service plan.
Chris Perry, a Southwest spokesman, told WPTV in a Tuesday statement that they will continue operating a reduced schedule for "the next several days," flying roughly one-third of their normal schedule.
The airline is struggling to reset its network of planes and crews, according to David Slotnick with The Points Guy travel website.
"For Southwest, they basically have to cancel all these flights, reroute everything and move planes back into position so they can start flying again," Slotnick said. "It's a difficult process, and it typically takes a few days."
Passengers on canceled flights are able to request a refund, but it still leaves them with the challenge of finding another way to fly.
"It's all good," traveler Stacy Pizzaro, who was trying to get from South Florida to Houston, said. "I'm going to get me a chair and go on the beach and get me a mojito and enjoy my stay."
Portions of this article courtesy of the Associated Press.
