ST. LOUIS — The Southwest travel nightmare is puttering to a end. On Thursday, some flights went out, some were delayed and many were canceled. The airline is promising normal operations Friday.
If you or someone you know was caught up in the disaster that was flying Southwest over the past week, you won't have to stand in line to get help anymore. Flights through Jan. 2 can be changed online. Missing baggage reports, refunds and reimbursement requests can also be done online now.
If you need to file a claim with Southwest for your luggage or update a claim to add delivery or pickup instructions, click here.
Customers can contact Southwest to rebook or request a refund at Southwest.com/traveldisruption.
A select few passengers got lucky with uninterrupted flights today.
"This will be my third day trying to get out," a surprisingly upbeat Hannah Lavely told 5 On Your Side, "I tried Christmas Eve and Christmas."
Lavely is one of the many Southwest customers with battle stories to tell; she waited 9 hours to find her bag, but they never found it. She's been hoping for a flight home to Sacramento for the past six days.
"I saw a plane leave as I was pulling up so it's looking good," she said.
When 5 On Your Side met up with Lavely, she was on one of a few flights still on the departures board to fly out.
Embrick Eyles and his family should consider buying a lottery ticket because their flight to Washington DC was still on track too.
"I think the morning and afternoon flights got canceled, but our flight is going on as scheduled so good luck for us today," Eyles said.
Once he got through security, Eyles sent 5 On Your Side videos from the gates. With most seating areas wide open, the terminal looked like a scene from April 2020, when no one was flying.
The quietness came as a surprise to Eyles and fellow Southwest flight hopeful Ryan Schuette.
"I am baffled," Schuette said. "I honestly thought we wanted to get here early, even with the delay. I thought these lines would be through and out the door. I don't know what's going on, I'm utterly confused at the moment."
One thought Eyles had was people had given up or that their flights were canceled. Between Dec. 22 and 29, Southwest canceled more than 13,000 flights. On Thursday, an estimated 2,350 flights were canceled.
Schuette is an A-lister with Southwest, he flies them a lot. Even though the past week was a calamity, the holiday spirit is still with him.
"It's the holiday season, I'm going to try and have forgiveness in my heart. I don't think stuff is intentional."
If you're with Schuette and plan on giving Southwest a second chance, maybe take this idea from Embrik, put an Airtag in your checked luggage.
"We've been doing it for a while now, it's nice being able to know if it gets lost where you can go."