Southwest Failures No Longer ‘Weather-Driven,’ Pete Buttigieg Says

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“I’ll wait another hour and then come back tomorrow,” said Mr. Byrd, 60. “We had a lot of plans for the weekend. I’m very disappointed with Southwest; their trustworthiness is in question.”

At Hollywood Burbank Airport, a popular Southwest base for Los Angeles-area travelers, most of the airline’s flights had again been canceled on Wednesday, but fliers with snarled plans appeared to be largely resigned to the state of affairs.

Some Southwest flights were arriving at the airport, however, including one from Denver.

Among the passengers on that flight was Beverly Wu, 28, who said she had landed five days after she was originally scheduled to arrive to spend time with family. Her flight two days before Christmas was canceled, and then one the day after Christmas was canceled, too. Southwest, she said, had been her “go-to airline” before the debacle this week that kept her from celebrating the holiday with loved ones.

“Christmas is really big in our family,” she said. “My dad decorated the house and everything.”

Luckily, though, her large, white suitcase full of Christmas presents was waiting for her at the airport when she arrived. And she was grateful for the airline and airport employees working long hours to make things better for passengers.

“I feel awful for the staff,” she said, sitting on a ledge near the baggage claim. “They’re working really, really hard.”

Senator Maria Cantwell, the chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, said in a statement on Tuesday that the committee would be investigating the causes of Southwest’s meltdown, and that “the problems at Southwest Airlines over the last several days go beyond weather.”