Travelers stranded at Colorado Springs Airport as Southwest Airlines cancels flights
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- According to FlightAware, 25 flights were canceled Monday going in and out of the Colorado Springs Airport, and all of them were flights through Southwest Airlines. At the Denver Airport, Southwest accounted for 419 of the 469 flights canceled.
FlightAware shows over 71% of all canceled flights nationwide are Southwest Airlines flights, with a total of over 2900 canceled Monday. Delta's cancellations sit at under 300, and United Airlines just under 150.
Throughout the day, hundreds lined up to reach the Southwest counter to rebook their flights, before the Airline closed their Colorado Springs Airport counter just before 6 p.m.
The Colorado Springs Airport says since the onset of Winter Storm Elliot, they've watched some airlines struggle to catch back up.
"The airlines are trying to get ahead of that domino effect," said Dana Schield, with the Colorado Springs Airport. "Really, if you think about it, if you're flying from the U.S. to Chicago, but your plane is coming from Dallas, and that flight got canceled, your plane then is not at COS to go to Chicago."
The Colorado Springs airport is encouraging anyone facing flight cancellations to attempt to rebook with their airline's mobile app.
Southwest tells us that travelers with canceled flights can request a full refund or get a flight credit, but people here in Colorado Springs say what they can't get back is time.
One traveler, Korin Mumford, said after two cancellations, she decided to book a flight with Frontier Airlines out of Denver. She is hoping to get home to California after spending time celebrating with Christmas with her family in Colorado.
"This has been so stressful the last couple of days, it has almost ruined the trip for me," said Mumford.
Mumford waited in the Southwest line Monday to ensure she got a refund, and said the travel nightmare has made her question her travel decisions in the future.
"I don't know that I want to fly Southwest again," said Mumford. "For at least a little while."
