ave1024

Looks like no flights going in and out for two weeks. Was originally supposed to return from PBI in two weeks. Cancelled and changed to a connection in BWI. Then I changed to a flight from Orlando to ISP was going to take a 2:30hr drive to avoid a stop. Now supposedly they changed that to a connection in BWI but if I try to book that flight as a new flight it shows "unavailable".

Looks like they may fly on 5/19 but as the first flight to ISP in two weeks, that flight is sure to be jam packed once people realize the prior flights got cancelled. Did WN just decide to shut down ISP for two weeks? Is this a first, shutting down an entire destination?

Then I also can't tell if a flight I have booked is cancelled, because if i try to book the same flight as a new ticket EVERYTHING for the next three weeks shows "unavailable". WN just told me that a flight I have booked on 5/16 is indeed still on, but the website says unavailable. They are claiming they stopped selling seats due to COVID, however if I look at today's flight's on ISP's website they show EVERY WN flight today was cancelled.

How am I supposed to book travel in this environment? Its such a **** **** with WN right now. Fill in the blanks.

ave1024

Here's the best part. The customer service rep is telling me my flight in two days is not cancelled, but the website clearly says flights on this day between PBI-ISP are not scheduled to run when trying to book new flights. Here was the answer I just got from them. Basically sit tight because we don't know. lol Now she is telling me to call and speak to an agent.


"I can definitely understand your frustration. I think we all are still adjusting to the affect the COVID-19 outbreak, so thank you for your patience while we continue to adjust to an ever changing situation. I can confirm for you that you are confirmed for seats on both reservations right now. If the flight is ultimately cancelled, you would receive either text messages or email confirmations, alerting you that the reservations have been cancelled. "

NoStressHere

FYI to others - ISP is on Long Island (New York City area)

With New York on such a tight lockdown.. not many flights. I just looked at the website and they are just barely open https://www.macarthurairport.com/

Blitzjb

Less than 5% of normal volume on all flights. ISP is a minor airport.

xliioper

They are currently down to daily MCO and TPA flights (with not infrequent cancellations). WN1123 just took off, so not everything is cancelled for today.

https://flightaware.com/live/flight/SWA1731/history
https://flightaware.com/live/flight/SWA1123/history

PBI and BWI flights last flew on Apr 27th --
https://flightaware.com/live/flight/SWA1456/history
https://flightaware.com/live/flight/SWA2155/history

joshua362

Beyond minor as compared to when it launched in 1999. About 8 flight a day pre-virus. Built a massive 8 gate edifice to themselves only to abandon it when they started LGA and EWR service. Now they can have a dedicated gate for every daily flight.

737MAX8

Yeah I see ISP-MCO and ISP-TPA flights that have been flying. Looks like on Sunday it changes to just a daily BWI-ISP turn and this is bookable on Southwest.com

ave1024

Well that's my point. I am in PBI right now and need to plan travel back to NY. Their system the way it's currently displaying things as "unavailable" does not paint the picture as to what is cancelled and what is "sold out". It also sucks that I have no way of knowing how many seats are sold on these planes. As somebody mentioned they can sell up to 102 seats on a 700 and with 36 seats in the front and rear not available, that only leaves FIVE middle seats that will be empty on the entire plane. It's such a load of ********* and WN needs to be called out on this one. They aren't doing anything regarding social distancing and are merely trying to maximize profits.

Case & point

Tomorrow 5/2 flight PBI-BWI-ISP shows as unavailable when trying to book travel. According to SW this means the flight is "sold out" and they claim it will fly. Yet when you check flight status for tomorrow it already shows as CANCELLED. The reason for this is if you check the BWI-ISP flight, that is the one that's cancelled. Nothing is going into ISP right now. ALL flights on the ISP website for Southwest show as CANCELLED.

I am currently ticketed for the 5/3 flight PBI-BWI-ISP. I am curious to see if this one will indeed fly. SW claims it will, yet I am skeptical. It will be the first flight in days to ISP that would land.

Blitzjb

ISP

xliioper

The ISP website only shows flights that are departing or arriving in the future. It's not terribly informative. There was an arrival and departure today (from MCO which turned to fly to TPA) --
https://flightaware.com/live/flight/...305Z/KMCO/KISP
https://flightaware.com/live/flight/...625Z/KISP/KTPA

As far as flights on Sunday, it looks like the BWI-ISP flight is still operating even though there are no seats for sale -- https://flightaware.com/live/flight/...005Z/KBWI/KISP
Generally, the flights that they are zeroing out for cancellation are cancelled quite a bit further out and not in the next day or two. So it's possible this flight is actually full (or as full as WN is letting it get due to social distancing).

ave1024

The rep told me there are "just over 100 seats sold". Currently its a 700 series airplane. This plane is going to be packed so i'll be changing or cancelling my ticket. No way I am having anybody fly on a packed plane right now and this plane will be given they block off 6 rows already.

lougord99

I certainly understand that you don't want to fly on a packed plane.

What I don't understand is why you feel Southwest has an obligation to fly an empty plane.

ave1024

I take issue with a few things:

They cancelled their routes down to nothing. None of my flights are direct now, have to make connections. And now they are electing to pack us in like sardines. Perhaps they cancelled too much of their fleet. For the next 14 days, EVERY flight from PBI-ISP is sold out with the exception of two. These are going to be packed planes.

There is a global pandemic happening right now and they shouldn't be flying packed planes period. I would be fine with every middle seat empty. But they aren't doing that nor are they guaranteeing that.

Why does the crew need three rows of empty seats but passengers get nothing? I can totally sympathize with the crew but this is a slap in the face to their clients.

Their open seating plan (while I never had a problem in the past) has a HUGE flaw in this environment as you cannot see how full the planes are. I should have a right to know how packed my plane will be in this pandemic so I can make a decision if I choose to fly on that airline! I had to ask SW the same question five times online for them to finally give me an answer. This one item might be the biggest issue I have with SW right now.

For an airline that loves to throw "transfarency" in our faces, they are doing anything but here. They are lying about their flight loads. Lying that we will never have to worry about a middle seat being taken. If you are going to prioritize profits over your clients health, at least just own up to it and not feed us any of this "we are controlling flight loads" BS.

If they had some other global operational issue preventing them from operating their entire fleet that wasn't related to my family's health I would just suck it up. Like a shortage of fuel or something. Fine. The route I normally take is usually 90% full at minimum anyways. I don't fly on half full planes and it is pretty RARE I ever have the middle seat next to me open. I am used to fully sold out planes and as A-List now I don't have to play the game of worrying about what seat I will get. But this is a legit health concern happening.

I have 670,000 points with Southwest and it's looking very likely I will be taking one of the nonstop MCO-ISP flights on Frontier as they at least know how to handle social distancing. My wife is freaking out over this and having to take my 4 year old on a packed plane. Thankfully after I fly back to NY I won't have to worry about flying with Southwest until November.

xliioper

I suspect there will be a decent number of no shows and the flight will not actually be packed. With all the chaos going, I'd guess a good number of people aren't bothering to cancel/rebook existing trips and are just abandoning them.

diver858

Because Gary Kelly took $2.3 billion in grants and a $1 billion low-interest loan from us (taxpayers); does not mean that planes should fly empty, but should respect social distancing, not fill planes.