Pittsburgh International Airport Impacted By Southwest Airlines Chaos

PITTSBURGH, PA — Friendly skies, they are not. Last weekend's weather-related airline flight cancellations and delays have extended into this week and they are brutal - particularly if you're trying to fly Southwest Airlines.

The total number of cancellations within, into or out of the United States Tuesday was 2,929 as of 11:30 a.m., according to flight tracking website FlightAware. Of that number, 2,542 were Southwest flights.

Pittsburgh International Airport had several dozen cancellations of arriving and departing flights.

The massive number of Southwest cancellations was deemed unacceptable by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

In a statement, Southwest said blamed the weather for its issues and stated that its numerous cancellations likely will last for several more days.

"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. These operational conditions 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. As we continue the work to recover our operation, we
have made the decision to continue operating a reduced schedule by flying roughly one third of our schedule for the next several days. And we’re working to reach customers whose travel plans will change to offer specific information and available options, also available at Southwest.com/traveldisruption."

For those attempting to contact Southwest via its flight issues, well, good luck with that.