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Southwest employees also frustrated, blame company systems for meltdown
Breana Ross
Reporter
Southwest employees also frustrated, blame company systems for meltdown
ATTENDANTS TOLD ME SOME WORKERS HAVE CALLED HER CRYING BECAUSE THEY CAN’T GET HOME TO THEIR FAMILIES OR PICK UP THEIR KIDS. IT’S BEEN ROUGH FOR CREWS ON THE GROUND TOO. WITH LONG HOURS AND TOUGH CONDITIONS. CANCELLATION AFTER CANCELLATION. REDIRECTION AND NO DIRECTION. A TRAVEL NIGHTMARE FOR SOUTHWEST CUSTOMERS. AND FLIGHT CREWS ALIKE. >> THE PROBLEM IS YOU CAN’T GET SOMEONE TO RELEASE YOU FROM DUTY. THEY ARE NOT ANSWERING THE PHONES BECAUSE THEIR SYSTEMS ARE OVERWHELMED. WHAT HAPPENS IS OUR FLIGHT ATTENDANTS HAVE BEEN NOT ONLY ON DUTY FOR 20 AND 30 HOURS, SOME ARE SITTING IN A CHAIR, BECAUSE THEY DON’T HAVE A HOTEL. BREANA: ON THE GROUND, CREWS HAVE WORKED OVERTIME SOMETIMES IN SUBZERO TEMPERATURES. >> 16 TO 18 HOURS DAYS. DAY AFTER DAY AFTER DAY AND YOU KNOW, WITH LIMITED REST, AND JUST IMAGINE SOME OF SOME OF OUR MEMBERS WEREN’T EVEN ABLE TO GET HOME IN BETWEEN THEIR SHIFTS, BECAUSE OF THE WEATHER. BREANA: UNIONS FOR BOTH FLIGHT ATTENDANTS AND GROUND CREWS SAY CONDITIONS OVER THE PAST FEW DAYS ARE INEXCUSABLE. >> OUR PASSENGERS HAVE COME TO US WITH TEARS. OUR FLIGHT ATTENDANTS ARE COMING TO THEIR UNION WITH TEARS AND WE ARE COMING TO MANAGEMENT SAYING PLEASE LET US HELP GET THIS RESOLVED FOR ALL OF US. BREANA: SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CEO BOB JORDAN SAYS THIS WEEKEND’S WINTER WEATHER CAUSED DISRUPTIONS AND ONGOING CHALLENGES CONNECTING FLIGHT CREWS TO PLANES. >> I’M APOLOGIZING TO THEM DAILY AND THEY’LL BE HEARING MORE ABOUT OUR SPECIFIC PLANS TO -- PLANS. BREANA: BUT UNION REPS SAY THESE CHALLENGES ARE NOTHING NEW AND THAT THE AIRLINES SYSTEMS AND TECHNOLOGY ARE THE REASON WHY. >> IF YOU ASK THE PILOTS, AND YOU ASK THE FLIGHT ATTENDANTS, HAVE WE SEEN THIS BEFORE WHERE FLIGHT ATTENDANTS AND PILOTS ARE SLEEPING ON FLOORS. WE DON’T HAVE HOTELS, WE DON’T KNOW WHEN WE’RE GOING HOME, I CAN ASSURE YOU THEY WILL TELL YOU WITH A RESOUNDING YES. THIS HAS HAPPENED BEFORE. >> THIS IS SOMETHING THAT’S LONG OVERDUE, THESE SYSTEMS NEEDED TO BE UPGRADED YEARS AGO. BREANA: SOUTHWEST’S CEO PROMISED TO ACCOMMODATE PEOPLE WHO ARE DISPLACED AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. AND TO DOUBLE DOWN ON PLANS TO UPGRADE THE COMPANY’S SYSTEMS. AT BWI I AM BREANA ROSS WBAL TV 11 NEWS. ANDRE: WE ARE TO TALK MORE ABOUT THAT. IF YOUR SOUTHWEST FLIGHT WAS CANCELED OR DELAYED WE HAVE THE INFORMATION YOU NEED TO TRY TO GET A REFUND. FOR ALTERNATIVE MOD
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Southwest employees also frustrated, blame company systems for meltdown
Breana Ross
Reporter
Southwest Airlines customers are not the only ones impacted by the company's meltdown in the days after Christmas.Sister station WBAL-TV 11 News has seen and heard stories of customers sleeping on airport floors, stranded without a clue when they'll make it home.Southwest employees have been impacted, too, and some said they're just as frustrated as customers."Our passengers have come to us with tears. Our flight attendants are coming to their union with tears. And, we are coming to management, saying, 'Please let us help get this resolved for all of us,'" said Corliss King, second vice president of the Transport Workers Union Local 556, which represents Southwest's flight attendants.Among thousands of Southwest passengers desperate to get home, there are Southwest flight crews hoping and praying for the same thing."As a flight attendant, I can tell you, I worked on Christmas and I worked the day after Christmas myself, and I saw firsthand our fatigued flight attendants are desperately trying to just get information and get home," King said.King said the union has heard stories from flight attendants across the country bearing the brunt of this travel disaster. A Southwest employee saw sister station 11 News at BWI-Marshall and told them some of her coworkers hadn't had much sleep the past few days."It breaks our hearts. I have dealt with flight attendants crying that they can't get home, they have to pick up their kids. One gentleman was in danger of losing custody of his child because he had to pick his child up by a certain time," King said. Southwest said last week's winter weather caused disruptions and ongoing challenges connecting flight crews to planes."Flight attendants saw hold times of five hours, eight hours, 12 hours on hold to say, 'I'm sick and I won't be there.' Or, 'I'm in a place you don't even know I am. You think I'm in Houston, and I'm in Boise.' So, we can't even communicate with our leadership and with our systems to say, 'We're not where you think we are,'" King said.Watch the video above for the full story.

Southwest Airlines customers are not the only ones impacted by the company's meltdown in the days after Christmas.

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Sister station WBAL-TV 11 News has seen and heard stories of customers sleeping on airport floors, stranded without a clue when they'll make it home.

Southwest employees have been impacted, too, and some said they're just as frustrated as customers.

"Our passengers have come to us with tears. Our flight attendants are coming to their union with tears. And, we are coming to management, saying, 'Please let us help get this resolved for all of us,'" said Corliss King, second vice president of the Transport Workers Union Local 556, which represents Southwest's flight attendants.

Among thousands of Southwest passengers desperate to get home, there are Southwest flight crews hoping and praying for the same thing.

"As a flight attendant, I can tell you, I worked on Christmas and I worked the day after Christmas myself, and I saw firsthand our fatigued flight attendants are desperately trying to just get information and get home," King said.

King said the union has heard stories from flight attendants across the country bearing the brunt of this travel disaster. A Southwest employee saw sister station 11 News at BWI-Marshall and told them some of her coworkers hadn't had much sleep the past few days.

"It breaks our hearts. I have dealt with flight attendants crying that they can't get home, they have to pick up their kids. One gentleman was in danger of losing custody of his child because he had to pick his child up by a certain time," King said.

Southwest said last week's winter weather caused disruptions and ongoing challenges connecting flight crews to planes.

"Flight attendants saw hold times of five hours, eight hours, 12 hours on hold to say, 'I'm sick and I won't be there.' Or, 'I'm in a place you don't even know I am. You think I'm in Houston, and I'm in Boise.' So, we can't even communicate with our leadership and with our systems to say, 'We're not where you think we are,'" King said.

Watch the video above for the full story.