United States: US airlines have cancelled thousands of flights as winter storms and staffing issues wreaked havoc across the country.

On December 27, nearly 4,900 flights were canceled, with another 4,400 delayed. More than 60 percent of the cancelled flights belong to Southwest Airlines, which called off over 2,500 flights.

The flight cancellation chaos led to thousands of exasperated passengers sleeping in terminals as they searched for solutions.

“We’ve been chasing our tails, trying to catch up and get back to normal safely, which is our number one priority, as quickly as we could. That’s exactly how we ended up where we are today,” Southwest spokesperson Mr. Jay McVey commented.

The US Department of Transportation (DOT) has stated that it is “concerned by Southwest’s unacceptable rate of cancellations and reports of a lack of prompt customer service.”

On the flight cancellations, US President Joe Biden tweeted that his administration is “working to ensure airlines are held accountable” for the disruptions.The president urged passengers to check whether they were entitled to compensation.

Southwest Airlines apologised and noted that the disruptions caused by the winter weather were “unacceptable.”

“We build our flight schedule around communities, not hubs, so we are the largest airline in 23 of the top 25 travel markets in the US. Cities where large numbers of scheduled flights froze at the same time due to record-breaking cold brought challenges for all airlines,” Southwest CEO Mr. Bob Jordan explained.

Since December 22, nearly 20,000 flights have been cancelled across the US, according to FlightAware.

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