- Video shows a Southwest pilot offering stranded passengers coffee at the Baltimore airport on Tuesday.
- The airline is facing mass cancellations and delays after severe weather in the past week.
In a more heartwarming moment to come out of the Southwest mass cancellation fiasco, one of the airline's pilots was seen handing out free coffee to stranded passengers at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.
The video was posted to Twitter on Tuesday morning by WUSA 9 reporter Eric Flack., and shows an unnamed pilot carrying around a tray of coffee cups to passengers waiting at a gate for a flight to Louisville, Kentucky. The pilot, wearing an American flag tie, handed out the coffee while another airline worker followed offering cream and sugar.
According to Flack, the flight's passengers were waiting for replacement flight attendants to show up so that the flight could take off.
"We're trying folks," the pilot told the crowd, according to Flack.
—Eric Flack (@EricFlackTV) December 27, 2022
Flight tracking shows an 8:15 a.m. flight to Louisville did eventually leave Baltimore, albeit nearly two hours late.
Insider reached out to Southwest for comment on the video on Tuesday, and received the following statement:
"Hospitality is something Southwest is known for and we are appreciative of all of our Employees that are working hard to help one another during these operational difficulties."
Southwest has been facing widespread cancellations and delays as its struggled to get back up and running after severe winter weather grounded flights nationwide in the last week.
According to Flightaware, Southwest had the most cancellations of any airline in the US on Tuesday, with 63% of their scheduled flights cancelled and 17% delayed. Denver International, Chicago Midway, and Las Vegas' Harry Reid Airport were the most impacted airports.
The travel nightmare has attracted the attention of the US Department of Transportation, which said Monday it will be investigating the airline.
"USDOT is concerned by Southwest's unacceptable rate of cancellations and delays & reports of lack of prompt customer service," the department said in a tweet. "The department will examine whether cancellations were controllable and if Southwest is complying with its customer service plan."
On Monday, Southwest issued a statement saying that they are working "urgently" to address the issue by repositioning their crew and fleet.
The airline admitted that their "continuing challenges are impacting our Customers and Employees in a significant way that is unacceptable."
"On the other side of this, we'll work to make things right for those we've let down, including our Employees," the airline added.