Southwest plans to resume ‘normal’ service Friday after a week of cancellations

After a brutal week featuring thousands of canceled flights, Southwest Airlines said it is planning to resume its normal airline schedule on Friday.

“While Southwest continues to operate roughly one third of its schedule for Thursday, Dec. 29, we plan to return to normal operations with minimal disruptions on Friday, Dec. 30,” the company said in a statement Thursday, adding it was “eager to return to a state of normalcy.”

“We have much work ahead of us, including investing in new solutions to manage wide-scale disruptions,” the company added.

» READ MORE: Nearly all Southwest flights from Philadelphia International canceled as travel woes continue

The news comes after another difficult day for Dallas-based Southwest, which canceled more than 2,300 flights across the United States on Thursday, including 22 of 26 flights in and out of Philadelphia International Airport, according to the tracking website FlightAware.

As of early Thursday evening, Southwest had canceled just two flights leaving Philadelphia on Friday. Southwest typically has 25 or 26 flights a day at the Philadelphia airport.

Southwest accounted for more than 95% of all domestic flights canceled in the United States on Thursday.

On Wednesday, nearly every Southwest flight heading to and from Philadelphia was canceled as part of a nationwide disruption that stemmed from a deadly winter story that spread across much of the United States. But Southwest’s issues were compounded by a number of factors, including how it routes its airplanes and schedules flight crews. The Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, a union for the airline’s 10,000 pilots, placed much of the blame on the company’s scheduling software, describing it as a “systemic failure.”

“The holiday meltdown has been blamed on weather that had been forecast five days prior, but this problem began many years ago when the complexity of our network outgrew its ability to withstand meteorological and technological disruptions,” the union said in a statement.

Southwest has set up a page for customers impacted by disruptions between Dec. 24 and Jan. 2. to submit refund and reimbursement requests for meals, hotel, and alternate transportation, as well as connect with their luggage. The website is Southwest.com/traveldisruption.

The company’s widespread problems have drawn scrutiny from federal officials.

“Their system really has completely melted down,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told CNN earlier this week. “From what I can tell, Southwest is unable to locate even where their own crews are, let alone their own passengers, let alone baggage.”

On Thursday, Ryan Green, Southwest’s chief commercial officer, apologized for the company’s collapse and promised to rebuild the confidence of customers.

“My personal apology is the first step of making things right after many plans changed and experiences fell short of your expectations of us,” Green said in a video.