- Emily Andrews was on a Southwest flight on Christmas Eve that was delayed as a consequence of climate.
- She says her bag was left exterior, and her bag’s contents, together with items, have been left soaking moist.
- Southwest flyers skilled lots of of delays this 12 months, following the airline’s meltdown final 12 months.
It wasn’t till Emily Andrews arrived at her mother’s home in Connecticut to have a good time Christmas that she realized her wrapped items have been ruined.
Andrews advised Enterprise Insider that the harm occurred whereas the items have been in her check-in suitcase as she was touring on Christmas Eve from Austin, Texas, to Hartford, Connecticut.
Her Southwest Airways flight departed about 40 minutes late as a consequence of lightning, Andrews mentioned. She had checked in her hard-shell suitcase stuffed with items like a matted image body for her sister and a stuffed animal for her niece.
Andrews mentioned her major concern with the wet climate was the delay — not her belongings getting moist.
However when she landed in Hartford and opened her bag at her mom’s home, she mentioned, every thing within the suitcase — together with her Christmas items — was soaking moist.
“My guess is they simply left everybody’s baggage on the tarmac,” Andrews mentioned, although BI was unable to verify what occurred after asking a Southwest consultant for extra data. “I might assume that Southwest would cowl it and never let it simply sit out within the pouring rain like that,” she mentioned.
In a press release despatched to BI, a Southwest consultant mentioned, “We make cheap efforts to load objects with care and return them promptly on the vacation spot metropolis.”
Emily Andrews
Fortunately, many of the items have been salvageable, Andrews mentioned. The body for her sister was warped, however the matting wasn’t ruined. She threw the stuffed animal within the dryer and borrowed wrapping paper from her mother to re-wrap all her items.
A Southwest consultant instructed Andrews file a report with the airline. Andrews advised BI she reached out to to the airline in regards to the scenario on the social-media platform X and through e-mail after her flight. As of Tuesday, she mentioned she’s obtained affirmation that the airline bought her e-mail.
James Carbone/Newsday RM through Getty Photographs
Broken items weren’t the one downside Southwest passengers say they confronted this vacation season — not not like the 12 months prior
Quite a few Southwest Airways passengers have been left stranded of their departing locations this Christmas.
Based on FlightAware, a web site that tracks canceled and delayed flights, Southwest Airways canceled 110 flights on Christmas and 910 flights have been delayed.
Throughout all airways, Southwest ranked second in airways with probably the most cancellations on Christmas day and first in delays, FlightAware’s information exhibits.
On Tuesday, a Southwest Airways consultant mentioned, “Our operation is at present wholesome and steady and we don’t anticipate any vital disruptions right this moment.”
This 12 months’s numbers are nonetheless an enchancment after final 12 months.
Greater than 2 million Southwest Airways vacationers have been stranded final December, the Related Press beforehand reported.
A winter storm and its aftermath brought about almost 17,000 canceled Southwest flights final 12 months.
In response, the airline agreed to a $140 million settlement with the federal authorities, which incorporates $90 million in vouchers for future journey delays, the AP reported earlier this month.
As for Andrews, she mentioned that subsequent 12 months she’ll be wrapping presents in plastic, not paper.
