Southwest travelers turning to other options as flights continue to cancel in Colorado Springs
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Some Southwest Airlines travelers departing out of Colorado Springs have been on standby for days waiting for a flight home. As of Tuesday, they've dealt with delays, cancellations, and no answers.
"I've tried to call them 15 to 20 times, can't get through," traveler Jimmy Nunez told KRDO.
Southwest has told travelers with canceled flights that they can request a full refund or get a flight credit. But, to do that, travelers have to get in touch with the airline. Some say that's been nearly impossible.
"Every single form of communication from Southwest customer service is down," traveler Patrick Pinson said. "From the phone lines, internet capabilities, to the physical locations. Busy signals or actually hanging up. A couple of people, including my wife, were on the phone for four hours before getting hung up on."
Patrick and his family have been trying to fly out since Sunday, with flights delayed and canceled up until Tuesday.
"They say online that they've rebooked us but we can't get any information on the rebooking process," Pinson said. "After today if we can't get an answer, we're looking at other means of transportation. Train, car, everything is pretty expensive now because everybody is aware of the issues with Southwest."
On top of the inconvenience, it's also causing long-term financial issues for some being out of work extra days.
"Unfortunately, to even do that we might have to take out a loan," Pinson said. "I just wanna see respect out of Southwest. I feel disrespected, left out in the dark. Worst case, someone's trying to see someone on their last breath and they can't get there. The severity of the situation is a lot more deep than what it seems on the surface. It's not just people missing flights, you got people missing time, opportunities. I'm even missing my CDL driver's test today back in Chicago."
Travelers are frustrated, some still with lost baggage. Some are resorting to making it to their destination by driving rental cars. However, those aren't easy to come by either.
"Online it says there's cars available so we were just downstairs because they open up at 6 and now they're saying there's no cars available," Nunez said. "We looked at the flights and all of them are canceled so we have to rent a car. But there's no cars available today here at the airport. So we're gonna go to the city and rent a car and take it home to Phoenix."
A representative with Hertz rental cars at Colorado Springs Airport told KRDO there are no cars available right now for walk-up at the airport.
For those still waiting to fly, you can check your flight status in real time here.
