CLEVELAND — Major travel troubles continue for Southwest Airlines.
After a rough week of countless cancellations and delays, travelers and federal officials are demanding answers.
As of Thursday morning, Cleveland Hopkins International Airport reported more than a dozen arriving and departing Southwest flights were canceled. This includes flights for Chicago, St. Louis, Nashville, Baltimore and Denver.
You can find the latest flight statuses here.
Travelers told News 5 they are extremely frustrated by the process and say the airline needs to overhaul its system of operation. Even employees are calling the set-up and booking process "dated."
News 5 has been following the travel issues since late last week. That's when a winter storm system paralyzed travel across the U.S.
Despite the weather improving, Southwest flights nationwide remained grounded. On Monday morning, every single Southwest Flight to and from Cleveland Hopkins International Airport was abruptly canceled.
Passengers told News 5's Mike Holden they were given no advanced notice. The majority found out about the issues when they got in line to board their flight.
Many of them were then told the soonest available flights would not be available until New Year's Eve.
According to flight tracking website FlightAware, more than 90% of Wednesday's U.S. flight cancellations were for Southwest.
Southwest canceled more than 2,500 flights.
News 5's DaLaun Dillard spoke with Corliss King, who is a Southwest flight attendant and the Vice President of TWU Local 556, which is the union representing about 19,000 Southwest flight attendants.
King says the inclement weather combined with extremely outdated technology made this situation worse. They had been calling for upgrades for some time.
At this point, the airline is still working to track down employees.
"You cannot take technology that worked for flying in 1999 and apply to flying in 2022. We have grown in leaps and bounds and our technology should go with us, and that has not happened," King said.
Southwest's CEO Bob Jordan responded to the ongoing issues, saying the airline would operate on a reduced schedule for the next several days. He said they are doing everything they can to return to normal operations and apologized for the ongoing issues.
The Biden Administration announced it is investigating.
Stay with News 5 for the latest ongoing developments.
