- Southwest cancelled thousands of flights, stranding travelers and drawing the feds' attention.
- The company's CEO warned the chaos may not yet be over.
Over the past few days, Southwest Airlines has cancelled thousands of flights, leaving passengers stranded in airports, waiting in 100-person lines at gates, and renting cars en masse to make it home for the holidays.
Bob Jordan, the CEO of Southwest Airlines, on Monday described the meltdown as a "tough day" and the "largest-scale event" he had ever seen. The company's stock fell 5% on Tuesday and the Department of Transportation announced it would be examining the airline's widespread cancellations.
Southwest has at various points blamed the problems on the weather, its outdated scheduling software, and its own business model.
So it's no surprise that amid all the travel chaos, the hashtag #southweststolechristmas is trending on Twitter. From horror stories and memes to holiday-spirit reminders, here's a sampling of what people are using the hashtag for.
One man wrote on Twitter that he waited on hold with Southwest for five hours and 32 minutes. He waited so long — without speaking to anyone, he said — that even the background hold music stopped playing.
—Hector Solis (@TheHectorSolis) December 26, 2022
Other Twitter accounts used the hashtag to poke fun at the state of the amid the airline meltdown.
—SweetTea_Liberal (@SweetTea_Lib) December 28, 2022
The ever-memeable Breaking Bad made an appearance, too.
—Cameron (@CamBNewton) December 27, 2022
One woman said she got the game Ransom Notes — a party game that involves creating sentences from random strings of words — for Christmas, and immediately put it to work.
—Jaclyn (@tekielasunrise) December 27, 2022
Another traveler shared a video with the hashtag, and said he was stranded for more than 24 hours after multiple cancelled flights.
"Still stranded at the Vegas airport (24+ hrs, multiple canceled flights) This is the @SouthwestAir rebooking line. It wraps around and then goes all the way to the end of the room. It also doesn't move," he wrote on Twitter.
—Evan Knupp (@EvanKnupp) December 26, 2022
Photos and videos of rooms full of lost luggage abounded under the hashtag.
—Laura Acevedo (@10NewsAcevedo) December 27, 2022
Others used the hashtag to implore travelers to be kind to airline staff.
—The Canad-Ian Nerd (@CaNerdIan) December 27, 2022
If you've been affected by the Southwest Airlines cancellations and would like to share your story, get in touch with us by emailing gdean@insider.com, lbatarags@insider.com, and mdescalsota@insider.com.