Of all the Southwest customers who have had their flights canceled this winter, few have been more stressed than Wendi Reichstein whose fiancé’s flight was canceled five days before their wedding.
“As a loyal #Southwest flyer and defender for YEARS, I would like to personally thank them for canceling all of my family (including the GROOM)’s flights FOR MY WEDDING,” Reichstein tweeted on December 27th.
Wendi Reichstein and her fiancé pose for a photo. Her fiancé had his flight cancelled by Southwest five days before their wedding amid the 2022 blizzards.
(FOX 7 Austin)
“Things going wrong related to the wedding I was mentally prepared for,” Reichstein told FOX 7 Austin. “The groom’s flight being canceled and, you know, me having to say to him, ‘there’s a chance you may need to get in the car right now and drive so that you make it in time to get married’ was not something I had prepared for.
According to Reichstein, Southwest also “canceled his parents’ flights, as well as his sister and brother-in-law and his two nieces’ flights. His parents were able to rebook and his sister and brother-in-law are currently road tripping 16 hours from Fort Lauderdale to Houston to be able to make it in time for our wedding.”
A Southwest Airlines jetliner sits at a gate on the C concourse of Denver International Airport on Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2021, in Denver. A Southwest Airlines pilot is suing the company, her union and a former colleague who pleaded guilty last year to stripping naked in front of her during a flight, Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2022.
(AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
“To really just be at the mercy of Southwest, who is just canceling all of these flights and people don’t know if their flight is even going to take off or not or when that’s going to happen, I think, is the most frustrating piece of all of this,” Reichstein said.
Southwest has blamed their “point to point” business model for the failures during this winter blizzard. The point to point model allows passengers to fly from small airport to small airport instead of the “hub and spoke” model which mandates passengers go to a major airport and change planes.
BUTTIGIEG UNDER FIRE FROM BOTH PARTIES AMID SOUTHWEST HOLIDAY TRAVEL FIASCO
While the “point to point” model can be cheap, effective, and convenient it hits a roadblock when major disasters occur and the local airport doesn’t have spare crews or planes to cover the required changes. This effect spiraled into over 60% of Southwest flights being canceled and thousands of Americans left stranded.
Passengers queue up at the ticketing counter for Southwest Airlines flights in Eppley Airfield, Sunday, Oct. 10, 2021, in Omaha, Neb.
(AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Additionally, Southwest does not have deals which allow passengers to fly on competitor airlines in the face of cancelations and are only offered compensation for rescheduled flights.
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“All the stress and the anxiety and, you know, the constantly checking flight statuses and, you know, looking at the tv and crying and pouring out their glass of wine, you know, hopefully one day we can look back on this and laugh,” said Reichstein told Fox 7 Austin.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Wendi told FOX 7 Austin her fiancé landed in Houston. Her wedding on Saturday will go on as planned.
Southwest Airlines did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
