Travelers took to Twitter to express their outrage at the airport’s handling of delays.
When Austin Goldberg arrived an hour and a half early for his departure flight from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport on Friday morning, he was certain he still had time. He certainly hadn’t expected to miss his flight. But he did.
A problem with Southwest Airlines’ ticket office has caused a “domino effect” of major delays across the airport, a spokesman for the facility said. According to passenger tweets, there were hordes of people snaking their way out the airport’s doors, some as long as three and a half hours.
“It was like getting a ride at Disney World,” Goldberg said.
After waiting in line for two hours to go through TSA PreCheck, a system designed to expedite the Transportation Security Agency’s screening process, Goldberg rushed to his gate, but his flight to New York was already boarded and the gate was empty. He was able to cancel the second leg of his flight through American Airlines and book a new flight through Southwest, but acknowledged others might not have been so lucky. He said he didn’t know if he would get a refund for the missed flight.
The “problem” with the Southwest ticket office caused me to miss my AA flight. Is @SouthwestAir refund me the money?
— AG (@AGoldberg34) June 16, 2023
Goldberg said a couple with young children in front of him also missed their flight to Disney World, and people behind him missed their flight to a wedding.
Numerous travelers like Goldberg expressed their frustration and posted photos of crowds at the airport via Twitter. Some said they missed their flights, others complained about the alleged lack of communication at the airport.
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“A big disappointment this morning…many, many passengers missed their flight, including my family, after arriving at the airport on time,” said one Twitter user wrote. “The lack of baggage x-ray/scanning equipment and the lack of staff are a big problem.”
The airport’s Twitter account responded to many of these Twitter concerns with information and an email address for travelers to send questions to: [email protected].
Ticketing and baggage retrieval are causing delays, according to the airport
Southwest spokesman Dan Landson confirmed in an email that the airline had minor problems with its check-in system as of Friday morning. He wrote that problems with the airport baggage carousel and TSA checkpoints caused the airport delays. He apologized to customers affected by the delays and wrote that he appreciated their patience.
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A component of the airport’s baggage-handling system was temporarily offline on Friday, which had “cascading effects” on security lines, airport spokesman Bailey Grimmett wrote in an email, adding the airline is working with TSA and airline partners to determine if further measures are necessary.
“We look forward to delivering a new outbound baggage handling system and expanded and improved checkpoints as part of the Journey With AUS program,” Grimmett wrote.
Southwest is an extremely popular airline at Austin Airport. Between January and October 2022, Southwest passengers accounted for approximately 6.7 million of the airport’s total passenger traffic of 17.5 million travellers. However, the airline has struggled with delays in the past.
In late December, the airline canceled or delayed up to 170 flights arriving or departing through Austin. In the last 10 days of 2022, Southwest canceled approximately 16,700 flights nationwide, prompting an investigation by the U.S. Department of Transportation. The winter weather contributed to some cancellations.
“There was no communication”
Several travelers, including Goldberg, expressed more frustration with the airport’s handling of the delays than with Southwest’s ticketing problems. Goldberg said neither he nor travelers close to him received much instruction from airline staff, despite raising concerns about missing their flights.
“Nobody knew what was going on. They tried to shove people around, but there was no communication,” Goldberg said. “There was no one there to help us.”
In addition to its Twitter replies, the airline tweeted updates about the delays. Shortly before 10 a.m. it is time announced Operations had returned to normal, but travelers were advised to arrive two and a half hours earlier for domestic flights and three hours earlier for international flights.
You know that’s ridiculous: “2.5 hours early for domestic flights and 3 hours early”… good to know, but terribly bad, unnecessary, avoidable waste of time. Is this the new norm or a temporary thing?
— JJ Beach (@JJBeach2) June 16, 2023
A Twitter user recommended Travelers arrive at the airport two hours earlier than usual to clear security.
Goldberg, who travels frequently for work, said he was used to airport delays but was disillusioned with the airport’s efforts to get people to their destinations.
“Airports are airports, I get that. Flights are delayed due to weather etc, but that wasn’t the reason. It was Austin’s operations and the way they handled security that caused the error here,” Goldberg said. “This is a rare case where I don’t blame the airline.”