Oct. 11 (UPI) — After canceling nearly 2,000 flights over the weekend, Southwest Airlines canceled hundreds more on Monday — but hasn’t yet provided a specific reason for the disruptions.
About 1,900 Southwest flights were canceled on Saturday and Sunday. The budget carrier also canceled more than 350 by midday Monday. Another 700 were delayed, according to FlightAware.
The canceled flights on Monday account for about 10% of all Southwest’s scheduled flights.
The airline said over the weekend that air traffic control issues and “disruptive weather” contributed to the canceled flights.
The Federal Aviation Administration, however, said there haven’t been any air traffic-related cancellations since Friday.
Southwest told CNN that schedule and staffing cuts due to COVID-19 have made resuming normal operations “more difficult and prolonged.”
On Saturday, the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association said “poor planning” by management and “external operational challenges” factored into the cancellations.
Last week, Southwest announced that all employees must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Dec. 8.
