Southwest Airlines resumes flights with relative normality

Southwest Airlines returned to a relatively normal flight schedule Friday after at least a million passengers missed connections or flights home over the holiday season, many of them without luggage.

The Dallas airline, which canceled thousands of flights every day this week after a winter storm last weekend, reported fewer than 40 cancellations early Friday. While that was more than United, American and Delta combined, it’s progress after one of the most chaotic weeks in aviation history for a single airline.

Southwest has canceled more than 13,000 flights since its most recent trouble began on December 22. Only on Thursday it suspended at least 2,350 flights.

Federal regulators promised a rigorous review of what happened at Southwest. Eyes are on outdated technology for scheduling staff that left flight crews unassigned due to bad weather, virtually shutting down almost all of the airline’s operations.

Meanwhile, at airports across the country, passengers faced the typical holiday week of travel. There was a stark contrast near the Southwest Airline counters, where hundreds of people sat on suitcases or slept where they could, while the airline’s planes were seen parked remotely on the runway, but without crews.

Southwest began accepting reservations again on Friday, and executives have begun what is certainly a long road in rebuilding traveler trust.

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