ST. LOUIS — People trying to fly into or out of St. Louis with Southwest Airlines continued to report canceled flights and problems with bags Tuesday.
More than 60% of all Southwest flights on Tuesday and Wednesday were listed as canceled.
Flight tracking website FlightAware said 156 Southwest flights, or 73%, were canceled out of St. Louis Lambert International Airport on Monday. All other airlines had eight canceled flights Monday.
As of Tuesday morning, 113 flights were canceled at Lambert, and 109 of them were Southwest flights.
One person 5 On Your Side spoke to said Tuesday was his third day of standing in line trying to get his son's and mom's bags from Southwest.
Jake and Marissa Payne were one of the many searching for their lost luggage.
"We are trying to get back home to Austin, Texas, but it's looking like it's going to be a rough ride," Marissa said.
The couple added they were boarding a flight when it was canceled because they didn't have a flight crew.
"When we got here there were no lines at TSA, there wasn't too many people here in the morning and we were like 'OK it's going to go smooth,' but then all of a sudden I feel like now we are in Armageddon right now, with just bags everywhere. Hopefully, we get ours," Marissa said.
Despite the travel headaches, many passengers including the Paynes, praised Southwest employees for their hard work.
"They were great. They were really helpful. We got a full refund. I can't complain about that at least," Jake said.
Elizabeth Grieve said the constant cancellations and no sign of her family's luggage have ruined their holiday.
"It’s exhausting. It’s been really exhausting. We were in the airport for probably nine hours. Our flight just kept getting delayed, delayed, delayed. Finally, it was canceled. I think we got home at like 3 a.m. so my kids were tired, no luggage, so hopefully we can find our luggage and move on with our week," she said.
Grieve was one of the many searching for her luggage in the piles that surrounded Terminal 2's baggage carousels.
She was hoping for a miracle.
"My daughter's suitcase is hot pink with white polka dots, so if I see it, I'm grabbing it, but I don't know, there's a lot of luggage here," Grieve said.
Aremelder Woolens was supposed to take off on Christmas Eve.
"They canceled the flight twice for me Saturday," she said.
Woolens was one of the many travelers without her bag, which she needs desperately.
"I need my luggage because my medicine is in my luggage. All of my medicine. My blood pressure, my kidney medicine," she said.
Marie Ndip has been stranded at airports since Friday. She was supposed to be going to Dallas to visit her grandchildren.
"[I've been in airports] since Friday. I have not gone out because the cold affects me so much. I have not gone out," she said.
Ndip's daughter booked her a hotel room in St. Louis and is now driving from Dallas to pick her up.
Despite the nightmare, she was thinking positively.
"That's life. At times it happens for a reason," Ndip said.
Southwest Airlines attributed the delays to scheduling issues and the winter storm, not staffing issues.
In a statement released Tuesday morning, the airline said it was planning to reduce its operating schedule to one-third for several days and issue a system-wide waiver due to adverse weather and its "resulting effects."
Customers booked to travel from Dec. 25 through Jan. 2 are able to rebook in the original class or service or travel standby within 14 days of their original travel date without paying additional charges. Click here to rebook or request a refund.
A national statement was issued Monday afternoon, saying:
With consecutive days of extreme winter weather across our network behind us, continuing challenges are impacting our Customers and Employees in a significant way that is unacceptable.
And our heartfelt apologies for this are just beginning.
We’re working with Safety at the forefront to urgently address wide-scale disruption by rebalancing the airline and repositioning Crews and our fleet ultimately to best serve all who plan to travel with us.
We were fully staffed and prepared for the approaching holiday weekend when the severe weather swept across the continent, where Southwest is the largest carrier in 23 of the top 25 travel markets in the U.S. This forced daily changes to our flight schedule at a volume and magnitude that still has the tools our teams use to recover the airline operating at capacity.
This safety-first work is intentional, ongoing, and necessary to return to normal reliability, one that minimizes last-minute inconveniences. We anticipate additional changes with an already reduced level of flights as we approach the coming New Year holiday travel period. And we’re working to reach to Customers whose travel plans will change with specific information and their available options.
Our Employees and Crews scheduled to work this holiday season are showing up in every single way. We are beyond grateful for that. Our shared goal is to take care of every single Customer with the Hospitality and Heart for which we’re known.
On the other side of this, we’ll work to make things right for those we’ve let down, including our employees.
With no concern higher than ultimate Safety, the People of Southwest share a goal to take care of each and every Customer. We recognize falling short and sincerely apologize.
Southwest Airlines' website read, "Our phone system is very busy due to high demand. Customers booked during this time may be eligible to rebook or fly standby without any charges. Use our self-service tools to change or cancel your flight."