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Southwest Airlines CEO apologizes for service disruptions

Southwest Airlines Canceled Flights
Posted at 12:05 PM, Oct 12, 2021
and last updated 2021-10-12 15:15:40-04

The CEO of Southwest Airlines has apologized following a weekend of service disruptions that left passengers stranded across the nation.

In an interview with "Good Morning America," Gary Kelly said what happened was "not what we want."

Kelly said it'll take "a couple of days to get things back on track."

The Associated Press reported that the Dallas-based airline initially blamed weather and air traffic control issues for “operational challenges” caused widespread flight cancellations.

But in a surprising move, the Federal Aviation Administration countered those claims saying in a tweet that they have had no reports of traffic shortages since Friday.

Kelly acknowledged that the cause of the cancellations was not due to air traffic control issues, but "a series of FAA Florida delay programs" on Friday contributed to canceled flights.

According to ABC News, more than 2,200 flights have been canceled since Sunday.