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Southwest flight cancellations causing chaos for many travelers in San Jose

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KION-TV)- Just after Christmas weekend, many frustrated and angry passengers are scrambling to find new flights after numerous cancellations on Southwest Airlines. 

In a press release, Southwest Airlines said it is trying to deal with the wide-scale disruption by repositioning crews and its fleet.

Mineta San Jose International Airport reps told KION it is working with the airline by giving them extra room as planes land here.

Travelers came to the airport extra early, hoping their flight wasn’t delayed or canceled. 

The Booth family from Santa Cruz is flying to Hawaii for vacation. But then they started getting notifications about delays to their flight. 

“I started getting notifications on my phone to check the status,” said Jason Booth of Santa Cruz. “I started getting texts that said delayed, delayed, delayed. We're still hoping to fly out today.”

The Booths are trying not to let this setback dampen their plans. 

“We're really looking forward to it,” said Jason. “But again, you can only do what you can do. So we're just trying to keep our attitudes up and have a great time.” 

Many people at Mineta San Jose International Airport were checking their flight status on the departure board. Rick Padilla and his family were coming from Phoenix, trying to get back to California. He ended up renting a car to get back home. 

“Drove to my house to where we were staying, picked up my family and all of our bags,” said Padilla. “I've been on the road all night and all morning till right now.”

The chaos has been a huge headache for Padilla. 

The cancellations also impacted our Morning Weather Authority Forecaster Erika Bratten, who headed home to Colorado to see family. 

“I was getting ready to go to bed, and I got a text notification that said I had been rebooked,” said Bratten. “I was like, what is happening?” 

Bratten said rebooking a different flight to Colorado was difficult because the one that Southwest scheduled her on didn’t work out.

“No one was answering their call center,” said Bratten. “I couldn't get anyone to talk to, so I just did a new flight with United.”

The Department of Transportation is now investigating the cancellation meltdown. The Department said it would examine whether the cancellations were controllable and if the airline company complied with its customer service plan. 

Southwest said it was fully prepared and staffed heading into the holiday weekend when the severe weather hit parts of the country. KION reached out to the airlines for further comment and is working on a response. 

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Ana Torrea

Weekend Anchor/Reporter for KION News Channel 5/46

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