T.Outdated scheduling software was one of the reasons why Southwest Airlines canceled a large number of flights, according to company officials.
The Texas-based airline canceled most flights over the holiday weekend. The airline’s management blamed a major winter storm for most of the delays, but the company’s inability to update its software also disrupted flight efforts.
Southwest Shambles
“We had problems with our scheduling tools, and we had scheduling problems,” said Southwest. business insider.
Winter storms were a ‘catalyst’ for massive disruption, said Mike Santoro, vice president of the Southwest Aviation Pilots Association insider The company’s “outdated” scheduling software compounded the problem. The software was intended to track the whereabouts of pilots and flight attendants, but was overwhelmed with processing power and could not keep up with demand.
“When we are out of position, it is a difficult task for schedulers to put back in, and currently it has to be done manually,” says Santoro. “The problem is that the software doesn’t track us.”
Southwest Airlines’ flight attendants union agreed with Santoro’s remarks. The storm had sparked trouble, but was glorified by “outdated technology,” Lynn Montgomery, president of the Southwest Airlines Flight Attendants Union TWU Local 566, he told KHOU.
Click here to read more about the Washington Examiner
Southwest Airlines struggles to keep up with weekend flight needs. The company canceled more than 70% of his flights on Monday and more than 60% of his on Tuesday.
The airline has earned the ire of lawmakers in the process. The Southwest will be “held accountable,” President Joe Biden said on Tuesday. The Department of Transportation also blamed Southwest for the failure.