More Than 300 Southwest Airlines Flights Canceled At O'Hare, Midway

CHICAGO — Coming out of a holiday weekend that saw thousands of travelers stranded at Chicago’s two international airports, some air travelers are still struggling to either return to Chicago or reach other destinations.

Especially if they are relying on Southwest Airlines to get to where they are hoping to travel this week.

More than half of the 68 canceled flights at O’Hare International Airport on Tuesday are on Southwest, according to FlightAware.com. As of Tuesday morning, Southwest had canceled 39 flights at O’Hare, which is more than double the number of the nearest competitor, United, which had canceled 17 flights as of Tuesday morning.

Southwest Cancellations Continue Into Tuesday After Christmas Holiday

Southwest Airlines is reporting even bigger troubles at Midway Airport, where 240 flights have been canceled on Tuesday. Only one other airline, Frontier, was reporting a cancelation at Midway, according to FlightAware.com.

Another 44 Southwest flights are delayed at Midway, which reported a total of 51 delayed flights as travelers — some of whom hoped to get out of town days ago — remain stranded. Midway Airport officials said that it has seen a record 333 flights canceled in the past 24 hours. Southwest is the airport's predominant carrier.

Southwest has already canceled 228 flights at Midway on Wednesday and another 135 flights on Thursday, according to FlightAware.com

"For many, this is the most important travel time of the year and they've spent days struggling to reach their destination instead of with their loved ones," Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said in a statement issued by his office on Tuesday. "I am closely following the ongoing challenges consumers are dealing with regarding their cancelled Southwest flights."

"Southwest Airlines should take immediate action to assist all those that are stranded and waiting endless hours for their flights. All travelers must be compensated for invaluable loss of time this holiday season, on top of compensation for rescheduled flights, hotels and alternative transportation. I also urge the leadership of Southwest to be proactive in communicating openly and honestly with their customers about the rebooking of future flights and what the airline will be able to handle in the days and weeks ahead."

On Tuesday, Crain's Chicago Business reported that the issues with Southwest is expected to hit the carrier's reputation, but is also expected to force the airline to take a significant hit on its fourth-quarter earnings.

On Monday, the U.S. Department of Transportation said in a social media post that it will examine whether cancelations by Southwest were controllable and if the airline is complying with its customer service plan. The department said is it concerned by Southwest's "unacceptable" rate of cancelations and delays.

Plenty of travelers are experiencing delays as well, as O’Hare is currently reporting 168 flights that are running behind for various reasons. The delays come days after both Midway and O'Hare canceled thousands of flights due to inclement weather conditions that included high winds and arctic temperatures that blanketed the region through Sunday. Forecasters were calling for blizzard-like conditions, but Chicago managed to avoid the heavy snowfall that was expected to accompany the winter storm.

Of the more than 2,883 flights within, into, or out of the United States Tuesday that have been canceled—more than 2,500 of those flights were with Southwest Airlines, according to flight tracking website FlightAware.

In addition, according to FlightAware, the total number of delays within, into, or out of the United States is 983.