03/27 Flight 5700, HNL - OAK, 6 hour delay leading to cancellation - IRROPS procedure
 

I'm on the earlier 5700 flight. After 6 hours due to MX, it was cancelled. There is bare bones IRROPs and was advised by a gate agent that boarded to call SW for accommodation and rebooking. If we were to fly on another airline, we would need to call SW as soon as possible.

03/27 Flight 5700, HNL - OAK, 6 hour delay leading to cancellation - IRROPS procedure
 

First time flying on WN. Unsure of the procedures here for a cancelled flight.

Flight to depart at 9:10 AM, delayed to past 3pm and cancelled. Sat on tarmac entire time.

Instructions were to call WN for accommodation and rebooking. At gate, only one gate agent present to accommodate 200+ passengers on cancelled flight. No instruction on any food, travel, or overnight travel accommodation. Since no flights in evening, we are now due to depart the following day on 1:15 pm.

What rights or accommodations does WN usually supply for a non-weather related cancellation? By calling the number, would accommodation for the overnight be given? There is bare bones staff present at HNL as all flights have departed. No ticketing/full service staff available as there are no other flights for the day.
Is it possible to just head to a hotel, book for the night, and then talk to WN staff the next day to bill them for the expenses? What is usually the range of reimbursement they accept?

Wonder if the local media will cover THIS with as much voracity as they did their arrival and their constant negativity towards Hawaiian?

Oh my.

Unfortunately, you're in for some more disappointment.

Southwest will sometimes accommodate with a hotel or food voucher, or a discount hotel voucher, but you'd need to have gotten that from an agent at the airport. (Also, sometimes those vouchers turn out to be worthless when they're not accepted by the hotel and/or it has no rooms available.)

Otherwise, Southwest (except in very special circumstances*) doesn't reimburse for alternate travel expenses, hotels or food. At best you may receive vouchers towards future travel.

They also, as you likely already know, have no interline agreements with any other carriers.

*The last special circumstance that I know of was the huge IT meltdown a few years ago. They are not doing anything outside of normal policy right now for those displaced due to the MAX aircraft grounding, and that situation is causing a great deal of customer disappointment. I suppose there's a small chance that they might do something special in your situation since it's relatively limited, and in order to avoid negative publicity regarding the recently-launched service to Hawaii. you will need to reach out to Customer Relations after the completion of your trip.

Good luck. Please come back and let us know how it works out.

Oh, the horrors of being without wifi. What did people do for 90 years of passenger aviation before wifi?

If this is true and my math is correct, WN is in store for a huge fine. Do the passengers share in that?

No. The government gets that.

From the OPs original post (below), they didn't violate the tarmac rule. Additionally, even if they didn't disembark and reboard, doesn't necessarily mean they were in violation. The only requirement is that they make efforts to return to the gate within 3 hours, and there is an exception for going beyond 3 hours if it is unsafe or otherwise disrupt airport operations. So unless you know all those facts doesn't guarantee a violation. Additionally in these types of mechanical delays at the gate, the jet bridge is attached with the boarding door open, which means the clock isn't even running.

This is going to be a serious problem for WN. Lack of backup aircraft and crew, no interline agreements with other carriers and lack of effective IRROPS handling mean that people need to hedge WN tickets to the Islands with platinum-plated travel interruption coverage. Not much different than people who book long-haul on DY are finding in IRROPS. The cheaper ticket is not necessarily the less expensive trip.

Shame on Southwest for this scenario! Surely, it was bound to happen at some point and they clearly had no plan. When flights are delayed this long, you have plenty of time to devise a plan and you either pay agents overtime or call new agents in to handle the situation. I understand the lack of spare aircraft, but the lack of planning for a cancellation seems ridiculous.