Does Southwest Make A Schedule They Have No Intention of Honoring?

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Feb 21st - Southwest FLT 1115 from SMF to LAX - CANCELLED. Fortunately the continuation from LAX to SLC still happened, although 2 hours late with a new plane and new crew.

Feb 28th - Southwest FLT 1115 from SMF to LAX - CANCELLED. And the continuation from LAX to SLC also CANCELLED. Last flight of the night. Left people stranded.

I was told it wasn't weather. The only note was "Operational"

Didn't find out until 20 minutes before the flight when everyone was already at the airport. Southwest really didn't know until 20 minutes before the flight? I would bet that Southwest knew hours earlier that they had no intention of operating this flight.

If you try to get On Time information for flight 1115 on their site it says N/A. I guess if you keep canceling a flight there is no On Time information.

They put me on flight 1961 today from LAX to SLC at 1:25. That flight is now over 1 hour delayed. Again today it isn't weather. It's operational. What is going on with Southwest operations?

Is their schedule just a suggestion or do they actually plan on staying on time? I think someone should really investigate them because I'm really beginning to wonder.
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So why do you think they cancelled the flight? What do they gain by booking flight that they don't plan to fly?
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Great question. Only they would know the answer to that. Two weeks in a row. Their schedule is too aggressive. They don't leave enough turnaround time between flights to stay on time.

All they could say was "Operations"

At the time they cancelled the flight the plane had already been in the air heading to SLC and skipping the stop in LAX. They knew it wasn't coming to LAX.
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Were you trying to fly the LAX-SLC leg? I know there was a tornado sighted within a few miles of SMF yesterday afternoon.

http://m.news10.net/localnews/article?a=5919195&f=1286
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I was specifically told it wasn't weather related. I think the rep let it slip that it was the number of hours the crew was working. She then backtracked and just said "operational."

I've been an A-List Preferred Member with a Companion Pass for 3 years...so I fly Southwest a lot.

I'm taking a break from them after these ridiculously delayed and cancelled non weather-related incidents. Southwest just broke my will.

I cancelled my Southwest return flight and booked on Delta.
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Quote: feb 28th - southwest flt 1115 from smf to lax - cancelled. And the continuation from lax to slc also cancelled. Last flight of the night. Left people stranded.
bulletin - eas activation requested
tornado warning
national weather service sacramento ca
628 pm pst fri feb 28 2014

the national weather service in sacramento has issued a

* tornado warning for...
Extreme northwestern sacramento county in central california...
South central sutter county in central california...
East central yolo county in central california...

* until 700 pm pst

* at 624 pm pst...a weather spotter reported a funnel cloud 9
miles south of karnak...or 6 miles east of woodland near
interstate 5...moving north at 25 mph. A brief touchdown is
possible.

* the tornado will be near...
Karnak and verona by 645 pm pst...

Precautionary/preparedness actions...

The safest place to be during a tornado is in a basement. Get under a
workbench or other piece of sturdy furniture. If no basement is
available...seek shelter on the lowest floor of the building in an
interior hallway or room such as a closet. Use blankets or pillows to
cover your body and always stay away from windows.

If in mobile homes or vehicles...evacuate them and get inside a
substantial shelter. If no shelter is available...lie flat in the
nearest ditch or other low spot and cover your head with your hands.

&&

lat...lon 3884 12169 3883 12157 3865 12161 3866 12172
time...mot...loc 0226z 186deg 21kt 3867 12166

$$
jhm
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While I am not a fan of current Southwest Management not their operational ability, I also do not believe they would schedule flights that had no intention of flying. They seem to be over scheduling and cutting corners I believe that is merely greed.
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Quote: I was specifically told it wasn't weather related. I think the rep let it slip that it was the number of hours the crew was working. She then backtracked and just said "operational."...
Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't a crew timing out "operational"? Do they owe you a detailed explanation, other than saying it was for operational reasons? Would some other explanation be more acceptable? The flight was still cancelled.
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Might as well tell my story. This thread is as good as any.

Returned to flying after 12 weeks off. Lots of new happened in 12 weeks. Got precheck. Flew on my 1st 800 (nice). They started allowing a "sort of" online check in for my CP COS situation which had greatly reduced the problems at check in, a least the four I had.

Now my flights and the delays. I had two trips out of BNA and two back. The one to ONT connected (PHX and DEN) the ones to SMF were directs with stops in LAX and SAN.

All left on time. All arrived on time or early. The flight from DEN to BNA was 30 minutes early on a 2 hour flight. I did not lose luggage. The SMF-LAX leg on Friday was bumpy and the rain was bad in LAX but no delay or real problems. I'm glad I get boring flights.

I'll bet there are more like mine than the OP. Oh, I have been delayed. I've had flights canceled. I used to fly 100+ segments a year. That much and you can't miss a few. It happens and I try to plan alternatives. I know the schedule of alternatives before I get to the airport. I will sometimes have it printed out. I will check unpublished possibilities. It has value beyond measure to walk up to the GA and say "Can you put this route together?" while pointing at the paper with the flight numbers and times. I will even call the A+ number while in line to check availability of possibilities before getting to the desk.

And, for what it may be worth, the last flight of the day does not even exist in my world for planning the original trip. It only exists as a back up.
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Quote: All left on time. All arrived on time or early. The flight from DEN to BNA was 30 minutes early on a 2 hour flight. I did not lose luggage. The SMF-LAX leg on Friday was bumpy and the rain was bad in LAX but no delay or real problems. I'm glad I get boring flights.
How much comp. did you demand?
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Quote: How much comp. did you demand?
^^^
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Quote: If you try to get On Time information for flight 1115 on their site it says N/A. I guess if you keep canceling a flight there is no On Time information.
Ontime performance information for the FAA is only generated if a flight is operating on the same route for at least 6 months. If it hasn't been operating on the exact same route that long, no on time history is reported.
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Quote: How much comp. did you demand?
Well played.....BEST post of 2014!

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