'It's been catastrophic': Southwest Airlines says winter storm exacerbated staffing issues

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Call it a flight fiasco for Southwest Airlines. Thousands of flights continue to be canceled across the country each day as the New Year holiday approaches. Many passengers who were traveling for Christmas are still stranded in airports nationwide, including in Houston.

Jay McVay, a representative with Southwest, explained in a Monday press conference that the issue stemmed from a staffing problem caused by snowballing cancellations during Winter Storm Elliott. He said there were not enough people to field employee calls and re-assign pilots and flight attendants.

"As a result, we ended up with flight crews and airplanes that are out of place and not in the cities that they need to be in to continue to run our operations. So, that is ultimately exactly how we ended up where we are," McVay said.

On Monday, lines at the Southwest ticket counter spanned hundreds of feet and all the way down to security at William P. Hobby Airport. The line was equally as dreadful downstairs into the Southwest baggage claim office where a sea of luggage could also be seen by the conveyor belts.

Conditions improved Tuesday morning with much shorter lines and smaller crowds. But this came after airport employees sent passengers away the night before and said they couldn't be rebooked for another flight before Saturday.

SEE RELATED STORY: Travelers at Houston airports brace missing their flight after seeing long lines at check-in

Customers waited upwards of five hours in line, and many said they were unsuccessful in reaching an agent by phone. Stranded travelers were offered free lodging and bused to nearby hotels by city and airport officials.

"It's been catastrophic. It's been a failure at every level at Southwest. Our pilots, our frontline employees have worked under enormous stress to try to get our passengers from A to B. But we were dealt a really bad hand. Unfortunately, our customers are bearing the brunt of it," Capt. Casey Murray, the president of Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, said.

The company's CEO, Bob Jordan told the Wall Street Journal that this is the largest scale event he's ever seen. ABC13 learned Tuesday that the company is dramatically reducing its upcoming flight schedules to allow them to restart and get back on track. It is undergoing a process known as a reset, which is where some crews and empty planes are moved around the country to get them back into place and restart operations.

In a statement to ABC13, a spokesperson wrote, "We have made the decision to continue operating a reduced schedule by flying roughly one third of our schedule for the next several days. Inventory available to book flights across our network is very low, but we are still operating flights."

Passenger Von Grant says he finally made it back to Houston, after his original flight from Chicago was canceled last-minute on Friday.

"Horrendous in one word. That obviously turned into a nightmare. We paid for an Uber. We had to come up here again in blizzard conditions. We have to debark. So it means all of our hopes for going out on Christmas Eve or Christmas were completely shattered," Von Grant said.

Kelly Anthony, who is traveling with her three children, has also been dealing with cancellations since Friday.

"This trip was a surprise for my sister for her birthday, but it was ruined," Anthony said. "It is not acceptable. I've been writing, taking pictures, videotaping everything that I've been through for the last four to five days just to go on their site to complain."

David Markham, a passenger who's trying to get to Omaha, told ABC13 he already got stuck on one of his layovers before having his flight canceled at Hobby. Markham's family is worried about him making it back because he's dealing with some health issues and also has to try to track down his suitcase.

"I don't know where my luggage is. It could be here or it can be in Omaha. I've got enough medication to get by for one week and all the rest of my medications are my luggage to refill," he said.

According to Flight Aware, at least 150 Southwest flights were canceled Tuesday at Hobby Airport. Passengers are now being encouraged to buy flights through other airlines, if they want to get to their destinations before the new year.

SEE ALSO: Poor planning, bad luck, systemic challenges | Why is Southwest really canceling flights?