ST. LOUIS — Southwest Airlines officials on Friday were hoping to close out 2022 this weekend with near-normal flight operations at airports across the country.
FlightAware reported Friday afternoon that Southwest had only 43 cancelled flights nationwide.
That’s considerably different from passengers’ experience over the course of the past week. The airline has been operating at just a third of its schedule on the travel-heavy days since Christmas.
On Monday and Tuesday, 70% of the airline's flights were canceled, and 60% of its flights were canceled on Wednesday and Thursday. After several days of pure travel chaos, Southwest officials promised to be running at near normal flight capacity Friday.
The company has issued several apologies.
Passengers on Friday at St. Louis Lambert International Airport's Terminal 2 included those who have been trying to get home for the better part of a week. There were also people who were traveling to their New Year’s Eve destinations. They made plans months ago and then watched this situation unfold over the course of the past week.
Their presence Friday was an act of faith that seemed to be paying off so far. Before sunset at Lambert, there were no flight cancellations listed on the arrivals-departures boards.
“We’re all good," Southwest customer Andrew Stephens said. "(My) plane has left Atlanta, so it’s in the air. It should be here. We should be fine.”
“I did receive an email, actually, yesterday that said as of today everything should be back to normal," Southwest passenger Wendi Hartman said, "so we’re hoping.”
Things seemed calm at Lambert Friday afternoon. One of the only things that stuck out were bags still waiting to be claimed by some frustrated passengers, like Cinnamon Phillips.
“I flew in from Houston, Texas, last Saturday morning at 8 a.m. I haven’t had my bags going on 9 days.”
Phillips is one of countless Southwest passengers whose holiday travel was anything but merry and bright. She's been without her belongings for nine days.
“It was exhausting just trying to stand in line four days in a row for five to six hours," she said.
But, in tune with the airline's promise for normalcy on Friday, 5 On Your Side spoke to several passengers with smooth travels.
“I was gone for about six months roughly so just wanted to come back here and spend some quality time with family," Zachariah Wells said.
Wells was visiting home in St. Louis for the first time Friday since his deployment.
"I was actually planning around that because I did see a bit about the cancellation flights," he said. "I didn't even know if my flight was good to go until yesterday."
He said he’s one of the only lucky travelers, but even he considered what the possible delay could do to reuniting with his family.
"Everything was good, on time,” Deepika Pujji said.
The Pujji family also waited until just the right time to fly home. They said they don’t know how they would’ve made it through this mess.
“It’s a magical time of year, so for them (my kids) to miss out on it would’ve broken my heart," she said.
Despite these happy travelers, people like Phillips are still waiting for the rest of their belongings.
“I finally got this one (this bag) last night. Unfortunately, it was the shoe bag and not the bag with all the Christmas presents and the more expensive items," she said.
She said she plans to continue flying Southwest, but she’ll need a few things before her next booking.
"A big voucher, Southwest. A huge voucher, all my points back, all the money I spent trying to change the tickets and for the hotel I’m about to stay in tonight trying to still get my bag to go back home," she said.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told Southwest officials he would take action against the airline if officials do not reimburse passengers for alternative transportation and associated costs.
Southwest Airlines created a form for people to request reimbursement if their flight was canceled or significantly delayed between Dec. 24 and Monday, Jan. 2. Click here to see the form.
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