Southwest has canceled hundreds of flights because of weather and maintenance issues - and passengers are furious
- Southwest Airlines canceled nearly 400 flights on Thursday and delayed hundreds more.
- In a statement to Business Insider, a Southwest spokesperson pointed to a statement from head of operations, Mike Van de Ven on Wednesday, in which the executive blamed ongoing negotiations with a mechanics union for an "unprecedented" number of flight delays.
- Some passengers were frustrated and took to Twitter to vent.
Southwest Airlines canceled nearly 400 flights on Thursday and delayed hundreds more as its scuffle with a mechanics union and unusual winter weather in Las Vegas wreaked havoc on its operations.
By 3 pm Eastern, the low-cost carrier had canceled 388 flights, or 9% of its scheduled service, and delayed 488 others, according to flight aware, leaving some customers furious.
In a statement to Business Insider, a Southwest spokesperson pointed to a statement from head of operations, Mike Van de Ven on Wednesday, in which the executive blamed ongoing negotiations with a mechanics union for an "unprecedented" number of flight delays.
Read more: Southwest has blamed a mechanics union for hundreds of canceled flights - and the stock is tanking
"The airline continues to experience a higher-than-average number of out-of-service aircraft and is operating under a staffing protocol enacted late last week to maximize availability of Mechanics to address maintenance items and safely return aircraft to service," the spokesperson added.