Southwest passengers say airline ‘very apologetic’ following days of cancellations

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — It seemed to be as close to normal as it could get for Southwest Airlines passengers on Thursday at Palm Beach International Airport.

After 10 canceled flights Thursday at PBIA and 80 in Fort Lauderdale, according to the flight tracking website FlightAware, the airline data tracking website is reporting only one cancellation at PBIA for Friday and none in Fort Lauderdale.

This comes after the beleaguered airline said it expects to return to normal operations Friday after canceling about two-thirds of its scheduled flights in recent days.

Bob and Marita Willis of Louisville, Kentucky, arrived in West Palm Beach on a Southwest flight from Atlanta.

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“They were very apologetic about what has happened to them over the last couple of days,” Marita Willis said.

The last couple of days has been described as a meltdown for Southwest, which encountered thousands of cancellations when the holiday winter storm all but shut down the airline’s scheduling system.

Passengers admitted they were a little concerned about the flight departing, but they also seemed willing to fly Southwest again.

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“I feel like it should be fixed by now, but I feel like it’s been going on, it should be better now, like, ‘get it together,'” traveler Allie Emax said. “I’ve always flown them. I probably still will.”

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“I would definitely fly Southwest again,” Bob Willis said. “I know they need to take care of their problems.”

Meanwhile, the airline is working to apologize, refund and compensate the thousands of travelers whose holiday was impacted by the calamity.

“I can give them a chance today, but let’s not make the same mistake twice or three times,” traveler Africa Allah said.