The massive flight cancellations, led by Southwest Airlines, are causing an exorbitant increase in the cost of travel tickets, as confirmed by customer complaints on social networks and media reports such as NBC.
The aforementioned chain reported this Wednesday that the Google flight database indicates that one-way trips from airports such as Nashville International, in Tennessee; the Ronald Reagan International in Washington DC, and the Midway in Chicago, all Southwest hubs, show an increase in prices.
The media highlights, for example, that the cost of a ticket from Nashville to the Denver airport, in Colorado, leaving today starts at $899 dollars.
In the case of a flight from Washington DC to the Los Angeles airport in California, departing the same day starts at $1,527 dollars.
The experience of active travelers confirms what the flight searches reflect.
Suzanne Durham, a Nashville resident, spent Christmas in Boston, Massachusetts. She intended to return to her home Monday on a Southwest flight. After the original flight was cancelled, the music industry professional was able to book another flight that left later that week. However, suspecting that the second flight would also be cancelled, she opted to buy a ticket with American Airlines for more than $900.
“When I booked the flight, I couldn’t believe it was so expensive,” Durham said.
According to the consumer, American did not specify what class she was placed in until it turned out that she was a tourist.
“It wasn’t even first class,” Durham said. “It seems to me that they are abusing the prices.”
Travelers complain on Twitter
Nicole A. Tinson took to Twitter to question the four-figure cost for two economy-class flights on the same airline.
“$7,719 for two seats in economy class is what @AmericanAir is charging amid massive flight disruptions out of Chicago,” the CEO of the non-profit organization HBCU 20×20 shared online.
“How sick!” he added. He pointed out: “Price gouging should be illegal.”
The ticket the user referred to was one for December 27 with an overnight layover from O’Hare airport to Ronald Reagan.
Airlines will set price limits
In view of the above, several airlines, including American Airlines, announced that they will establish price limits, especially in cities where Southwest operates, in an attempt to avoid price increases.
United and Delta Air Lines will also implement the measure until January 2.
For his part, the Secretary of the Department of Transportation, Pete Buttigieg, who has already warned Southwest Airlines that it could be exposed to sanctions due to the impact of cancellations on its customers, supported the establishment of price limits.
“No one should take advantage of the situation,” Buttigieg told NextStar Media.
The official did not rule out the agency taking additional action to control speculation.
“We expect airlines to go beyond the legal minimum and do the right thing,” he said. “It shouldn’t take enforcement action from our department to get people served or paid back.”
This Thursday morning the cancellation of almost 4,000 flights had been confirmed, more than half of them corresponded to the Southwest company.
The cancellations began as a result of the impact of Storm Elliot that hit much of the United States on Christmas weekend.
According to the most recent data released by FlightAware, 3,944 flights have been canceled today, of which 2,357 (58%) are Southwest.
The airports with the most canceled flights are Denver, Chicago, Las Vegas, Dallas and Baltimore.
In addition, there are delays in more than 8,000 flights scheduled for this Thursday, according to the same air traffic monitoring website.
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