SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - Weather across the country is causing a holiday travel nightmare.
According to the website FlightAware, thousands of flights across the country were canceled Monday.
As of Monday evening, the website reports more than 175 of those canceled flights were at San Diego International Airport.
“It’s like trauma,” one traveler told ABC 10News.
Inside terminal one travelers waited in an hours-long line to speak with a representative from Southwest. The airline canceled most of their Monday flights out of San Diego.
"I'm tired of California bro,” another traveler said. “I’m not from California, bro I’m from Texas, man and we're tired of this man."
Monday afternoon, an official from Southwest told travelers over the loudspeaker it could be four to five days before they can get them on another flight.
Some travelers have been trying to get out of San Diego since last week.
“I was here on the 23rd and got canceled,” said Matt Phelps. “I had to come back this morning, got canceled again, and now I’m sitting here waiting hours for my luggage. So, the holidays are ruined for me."
Southwest posted a travel update on its website:
“With consecutive days of extreme winter weather across our network behind us, continuing challenges are impacting our Customers and Employees in a significant way that is unacceptable.
And our heartfelt apologies for this are just beginning.
We’re working with Safety at the forefront to urgently address wide-scale disruption by rebalancing the airline and repositioning Crews and our fleet ultimately to best serve all who plan to travel with us.
We were fully staffed and prepared for the approaching holiday weekend when the severe weather swept across the continent, where Southwest is the largest carrier in 23 of the top 25 travel markets in the U.S. This forced daily changes to our flight schedule at a volume and magnitude that still has the tools our teams use to recover the airline operating at capacity.
This safety-first work is intentional, ongoing, and necessary to return to normal reliability, one that minimizes last-minute inconveniences. We anticipate additional changes with an already reduced level of flights as we approach the coming New Year holiday travel period. And we’re working to reach to Customers whose travel plans will change with specific information and their available options.
Our Employees and Crews scheduled to work this holiday season are showing up in every single way. We are beyond grateful for that. Our shared goal is to take care of every single Customer with the Hospitality and Heart for which we’re known.
On the other side of this, we’ll work to make things right for those we’ve let down, including our Employees.
With no concern higher than ultimate Safety, the People of Southwest share a goal to take care of each and every Customer. We recognize falling short and sincerely apologize.”
