Still days away from relief, Southwest Airlines passengers are scrambling for alternative travel in order to make it home. From chartered flights, to trains, buses and car rentals, stranded passengers are spending hundreds of dollars after days of waiting to board a flight.
As of Wednesday afternoon, FlightAware.com reports Southwest Airlines has canceled 61% of its flights bringing the week’s total cancellations for the Dallas-based airline to about 10,000.
Southwest customer, Shirley Duvall said she is finally one step closer to seeing her family for the holidays. Her travel nightmare began days ago when her connecting flight from Chicago to Dallas was canceled multiple times.
“I’ve lost count,” Duvall said of the canceled flights.
Get DFW local news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC DFW newsletters.
She’s also lost track of exactly how much money she has had to spend on food, hotel rooms and even additional flights which were ultimately canceled.
“(I’ve lost) probably close to $2,000,” Duvall said.
That includes the latest expense that included an unexpected road trip to Dallas.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
“I just got to town,” Duvall said. “I ended up on a Greyhound bus. (It was) a 29-hour trip to get here.”
Her first stop was Love Field Airport to pick up her luggage, but soon, she will finally see her four-year-old grandson.
“On Christmas day, (he) was chanting, 'Grammy! Grammy! Grammy!' He was so excited for me to be here, and I couldn't make it. So, it has been tough,” Duvall said.
With limited options available, some have had to fork up even more money for chartered flights with Dallas-based air carrier, JSX.
According to a JSX spokesperson, “JSX has proactively added extra flying into our schedule where we can - including from Dallas Love Field - in an effort to help people travel with ease. Flights between our private terminals on crowd-free 30-seat jets can be booked at jsx.com.”
Hundreds of other passengers, mostly from Southwest Airlines, have resorted to taking the train. A Dallas Amtrak station employee told NBC 5 that departures from Dallas are booked until at least Jan. 4.
For others, like Laura Dungan, options to head home to areas like West Texas are more limited.
“It (has) been frustrating, you know,” Dungan said. “I want to get back to work and to my family, and we just kind of wasted time. We wasted another night on a hotel.”
However, Dungan’s spirits were lifted Wednesday morning even after experiencing another flight cancellation with Southwest Airlines.
“We're getting the rental, but it's costing us another 250 (dollars),” Dungan said.
Dungan was able to make a reservation with Budget Car Rental. “It was a big relief! I just want to get on the way home.”
Once home, she knows she, along with thousands of other Southwest Airlines passengers will need to deal with another set of hurdles for refunds.
“As soon as I get home, I’ll get online and submit whatever they (ask) me to submit,” Dungan said. “Right now it's, like, you call, and they just hang up. Call and hang up. Call and hang up. So, we're going to see how long the process is (to email) them.”
Southwest Airlines has a travel disruption web page where consumers can submit refund requests and turn in receipts for additional expenses like hotel, rental car and meals.
