Southwest Airlines cancelled dozens of flights that were both arriving and departing from the Salt Lake City International Airport last weekend. The airline says the flights were cancelled due to bad weather and air traffic control issues. However, there is some speculation Southwest’s pilot union forced the cancellations due to the airline's COVID-19 vaccine mandate.Between 1:45 p.m. Saturday and 5:10 p.m. Sunday, 19 of the 34 departures from Salt Lake were cancelled. Of the 30 arriving planes between 3 p.m. Saturday and 5 p.m. Sunday, 17 were cancelled.
This issue was not unique to Utah. The airline grounded more than 800 flights on Saturday and thousands more on Sunday.
Those calling Southwest’s customer service should expect longer than usual wait times. The company suggests rescheduling with its online self-service options.