‘Flight-Mare’ Continues for People Traveling Home After Christmas Holiday

SWA is currently leading the nation in cancellations, with nearly 1,000 reported around 10 a.m. Monday on FlightAware, a flight tracking website.

Delta, Spirit, United and Alaska Airlines are also dealing with flight cancellations and delays.

A powerful winter storm has wreaked havoc on the airlines, which were already stretched thin due to a surge in holiday travelers for the Christmas weekend. The storm swept across the entire nation, bringing ice storms to the Pacific Northwest, blizzard conditions to the Rockies, dangerous cold and strong winds to the South and more snow to the Midwest and Northeast.

United States-based airlines were forced to cancel some 12,000 flights between Wednesday and Saturday, with up to 3,000 more canceled on Christmas Day.

Even if travelers weren’t heading to directly affected cities, the winter storm threw a wrench in the entire system. Some passengers told NBC 5 they were told their flights were not staffed enough to take off, leading to the cancellations.

NBC 5 is waiting to hear back from SWA about the cause of such a high number of cancellations on Monday.

Some travelers have also reported an issue with lost bags among airlines, including American Airlines. Wait times to call a customer service agent have reportedly lasted as long as five hours.

Travel experts say reaching out to airlines via Twitter direct message might be one way to more easily get in touch with someone to help you change your flight.