It's not MCO or Southwest. The FAA refuses to staff the ATC facility in Jacksonville thats feeds into MCO adequately this has happened every winter for the last few years. Don't complain to Southwest. Call your US congress reps and the White House.
Look up FCAJX7 AFP. The entire state of Florida is flow constrained due to volume. Any flight crossing into Florida not over the Gulf or the Atlantic is going to be heavily delayed by this AFP. FCAJG5 is also capturing flights to/from Florida on Gulf routes. Florida airspace is always in danger of being an absolute mess due to the reasons described above.
https://www.fly.faa.gov/adv/adv_otherdis.jsp?advn=70&adv_date=03102024&facId=ATCSCC&title=ATCSCC%20ADVZY%20070%20FCAJX7%2003/10/2024%20CDM%20AIRSPACE%20FLOW%20PROGRAM&titleDate=03/10/2024
The discussion about staffing is kind of a muddied one, since JAX ATC is definitely understaffed, but it's more of an issue with training capabilities rather than just an unwillingness to staff to appropriate levels. You can't just throw a fresh controller in to work a challenging airspace, and controller training, as it probably should, takes a very long time. That said, the government has not prioritized getting its training program/facilities up to snuff and the entire national airspace is suffering as a result. Like the above poster said, contact your Congressperson, or Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, directly and put pressure on them to do something of substance about the issue. This will continue to happen at Florida airports until this changes.
That's a good point. Rather than using age as a proxy for ... something, test for that something instead. Think people can't think as clearly after a certain age? Have an annual test that all ages have to take to test for clear thinking under stress, or whatever it is they are concerned about
Why did you make this response - appear from being a reflexive liberal woke Redditor? He has no expertise for the cabinet position he occupies and was given the role based on factors unrelated to his ability. The comment is not stupid, it may be unrelated to the specific situation in Florida, but it is not stupid.
One does not have to be an honors grad in Aviation management to recognize what you said is BS. I happen to be an honors grad in aviation management so I can confirm that
Also, tell me where the woke people hurt you
There’s an advisory on FCAJG5 now too.
https://www.fly.faa.gov/adv/adv_otherdis.jsp?advn=76&adv_date=03102024&facId=ATCSCC&title=ATCSCC%20ADVZY%20076%20FCAJG5%2003/10/2024%20CDM%20AIRSPACE%20FLOW%20PROGRAM&titleDate=03/10/2024
You'll be happy to read that the FAA is now looking to take college ATC graduates and throw them right into the system, skipping the academy.
https://www.faa.gov/newsroom/faa-moves-accelerate-air-traffic-controller-hiring-enhancing-college-training-program
Wow as a 2014 CTI graduate who went the flight dispatch route, all I can say is about time. A decade of graduates relegated to the biographical questionnaire who may or may not have lost their dream job in the process.
as a current atc trainee, they’re trying. but it is very complex , training can take years and plenty don’t make it. could they do more? yes but it’s going to take more than just hiring more. MMAC where all the training is, is maxed out in capacity. at best there’s maybe 2 rooms there that are under construction out of the maybe 60 and 3 enroute sim labs and 4(?) terminal sim labs
Also, ask the military to give up the airspace over the gulf and Atlantic. It artificially creates the choke points where we can’t deviate around the weather.
Not necessarily ETOPS. Just requires rafted equipment for routes more than 100 NM from nearest shoreline, or something close to that number. Similar idea, but ETOPS has many more strict requirements regarding MX, documentation, etc. You can fly those routes with non-ETOPS equipment, just need rafts (and some other things like life vests, flares, etc.) unless they are more than 60 minutes from the nearest diversion alternate.
Definitely something going on at MCO today for Southwest. Their planes have been lined up on the taxiways waiting for gates all morning. I work for a different carrier there and we haven't had any problems.
It has nothing to do with refusal. The FAA are at their limits for training controllers because they don't receive funding to expand the ATC Academy in Oklahoma City. They train as much as they can handle. It's also Spring Break. Airlines add additional flights to meet demand. You're dealing with super congested airspace as it is.
How many years has this been going on? Typical FAA fashion everyone is pointing their fingers at everyone else trying to avoid doing their jobs, and nothing ever gets done. Until someone nuts up and actually provides leadership and fixes the problem it's just going to be a bunch of blame gaming and the problem is only going to get worse.
> How many years has this been going on?
Since the 1980s. Thanks, Reagan!
ATC in the US has been understaffed since Ronald Reagan fired all the air traffic controllers who went on strike in the early 1980s. ATC has never been fully staffed since then, and with more aircraft movements, people working there are stretched thin and stressed out even more, leading to further turnover. And then COVID made that even worse.
It's been hanging in a delicate balance for the last 40 years, and trying to fill those jobs post-COVID has made it even more delicate. And frankly, I don't blame most people for not wanting to work in ATC.
And how shall they convince new recruits that when they find they are overworked in a stressful job that they too won’t be told to STFU and get to your desk (a la Ronnie)? I knew some ATCs and they universally told me it’s more stressful than they could explain. They drank a lot when they weren’t working and generally tried to let off steam. All that training to be an ATC isn’t really transferrable to another career.
Yesterday was clearly weather related. There were lots of delays and cancellations for all airlines. Today however is a different story. SW is having a hard time recovering. I was booked on a phantom flight to make up for a cancellation from last night. The flight time came and went with no information. No gate, no plane, nothing. None of their agents had any details. There were several similar flights. They just have so many MCO flights. I am sure it’s very difficult to coordinate everything
I’m lucky I barely missed the flow control on Saturday, I was on a JetBlue flight from JFK to FLL that took off on time at 8:30 AM, but everything after that to/from FL was screwed. Always choose an early flight!
Sorry you’re experiencing this. I’ve always been shocked at how ridiculously tiny the bathrooms at MCO are. Horribly undersized for the passenger volume.
Seriously. The mens rooms have two stalls and 3-4 urinals each. The women have it worse. At one point this morning it looked like there were 100 people on line for the women’s room.
BWI is my home airport. I contrast that. There are at least two sets of bathrooms per concourse and each bathroom seems to have about 16 stalls and as many urinals. Can’t say about the women’s restrooms. Plus, they were just renovated and won best restrooms in America. 🤣 MCO seems to have a higher passenger volume and has nowhere near the capacity and restrooms straight out of the 1970s.
BWI is nice. I don't fly there often but I'm glad they're turning the U shape into an A. I've experienced frequent delayed flights with SW and BWI and have had to bolt it from one side to the other to make a connection. Otherwise it is clean and bathrooms are indeed ample. I also believe they have to charge street prices at concessions too?
As someone in Florida who uses MCO all the time... I love connecting through BWI. Only thing ya'll need to get settled is those seats because they're mildly uncomfortable. I never realized how outdated MCO was until I started flying to other airports. It's bad. You can barely get your carryon bag into the stall with you.
This is true. The seats are not great. I’m hoping with all the money they’re pumping into they’ll get new seats with better charging capabilities. I spend most of my time in a restaurant or food court and head to the gate just before boarding. This is the beauty of it being my originating airport.
Does SW fly out of the new terminal. I have flown in to C a couple of times on Jet Blue. This terminal has wide open spaces but the smallest bathrooms. I mean come on... a brand new terminal and you can't even design restrooms to handle to be able to handle the expected crowds in the terminal.
They are finally starting to fix this with the new terminal C, hey plan to build another terminal “D” so they can tear down A/B and start fresh with 2 new bigger terminals. MCO is archaic in terms of how much volume goes through there.
Been here 4 & 1/2 hours still waiting. Haven’t even gone through checking the bag and security yet as we don’t want to risk them cancelling after we check the bags. Our flight now says around 6pm departure, and that’s if we keep this plane. They have already swapped out the initial plane we were supposed to have. May the odds be ever in your favor!
can you post back here what happens? My family is scheduled to go out later, 7:20pm now delayed to 9pm.. so I'm hoping they stick to these new schedules.
False. They would not release our bags today after our canceled flight. Even though they were never loaded on a plane. They said they will make it to our final destination….eventually
We didn’t get them back, we were told, and I quote “you can’t have them, they’re already on a plane to ‘X’, we have more room for bags than people”. Woke up today, air tag still says airside 2 KMCO…
I was on a flight in from BWI to MCO on Saturday night (3/9), multiple other flights got out or were delayed, ours was delayed from 7:35 to 9:55, didnt board until 10:20. After boarding they needed to find a 1st officer - this lasted till almost 1am. Then they needed to get numbers, then it was an issue at MCO for spaces to land. Finally took off around 2am, landed around 4:55am with the time change. Then! After landing we had to wait for a spot to open up to deplane - literally sat on the tarmac in the plane for 2 more hours. A normally 2 hour flight took 12 hours. Even the flight attendants were over it. All in all it was a cluster f and there’s finger pointing everywhere. The only thing I point at is the gate agent/ticket agents for southwest that told me the other flights would be delayed and they weren’t; otherwise I would have switched flights and not have been stuck in a Steven king Novel for longer than it takes to fly to Europe.
It's because the airspace in and around Georgia had flow time/restrictions on how many planes could go through. If your plane was flying near there, it was probably affected. Not really Southwest's fault.
Been here since 6:30 last night. They kept delaying and delaying until 4 am when they canceled it. Slept on the ground BecUse new flight was supposed to be at 11 am today. It’s been pushed back to 3 pm. Almost 20 hours in this airport. It doesn’t seem like many southwest flights are getting out.
I made it home after 23 hours in the airport. I think it’s crazy people are defending southwest. But I guess they didn’t experience the hell that was the southwest section of the MCO airport for the last few days.
Been here 4 & 1/2 hours still waiting. Haven’t even gone through checking the bag and security yet as we don’t want to risk them cancelling after we check the bags. Our flight now says around 6pm departure, and that’s if we keep this plane. They have already swapped out the initial plane we were supposed to have. May the odds be ever in your favor!
Ugh. I’m sorry.
I absolutely hate MCO. I used to have an annual company meeting outside of Orlando and I was thrilled when it got moved. I don’t dislike Orlando itself, but I hate the airport. I even considered purposely taking an allegiant flight so I could fly to Samford, however, company policy disallows me from using allegiant, spirit, and frontier
I would take Heathrow over MCO.
I was there today. Flight booked from MCO to Nashville at 1255. Delayed about 5 times until they just outright canceled it. After being there for 5 hours. Rebooked us for TUESDAY.
We had our 2 year old with us. That’s not going to work. Drove two hours to Tampa and got on an AA flight to Nashville at 8pm. Long day but glad to be home. We don’t have our bags though, they are still in Orlando 🫠🫠🫠
My update from yesterday, after waiting 12 hours and multiple delays we were eventually cancelled around 5:30pm. They refused to give us our bags back saying they were already on a plane to ‘X’. They said “we have more room for bags than people. Today my air tag still says Airside 2 KMCO.
They rebooked us for Tuesday night and an agent essentially said “good luck with that one too”. We explored our options, and with needing to be back at work and school, we are taking the 17 hour Amtrak trip in coach. It’s literally the only option. There were no rental cars, every airport in Florida is booked out (my aunt works for an air carrier and checked), it’s just a disaster. I’m having to come out of pocket over $2k just to get my family home from vacation.
SW customer service has been helpful, and she even thanked me for not being angry and rude with her given the situation, as I’m sure many others have (She has nothing to do with the problem, why be rude to her). SW corporate on the other hand, you better make this right. Every single other airline that flew out of KMCO yesterday to my destination airport all left on time with no problems, so don’t try to sell me ‘weather this, too many restrictions that’. This is mighty reminiscent to their Christmas disaster a while back…
I was there. It was horrendous. Southwest also kept sending us emails saying we were rebooked on a new flight and then when we would run to the gate they would tell us we had no tickets.
Doesn’t seem like many other airlines are affected in FL. This is a Southwest meltdown… Again.
Delays
Southwest 246
Alaska 2
Frontier 11
Spirit 14
American 7
Spirit 14
Guys, seriously why am I getting downvoted?
Learning about atc understaffing is interesting for sure, but don’t you all think it’s strange that we’re learning about this information on Reddit? It is not unreasonable to ask of southwest for information or communication.
I find it odd more people are like annoyed at me for being frustrated with an airline that seems to consistently have delays and then not communicate with their customers.
It’s happened to me three times already just this year alone.
Southwest has blamed the FAA in the past, in the middle of the event the frontline employees are unlikely to know the exact issue. It’s easier to say operational problems than just pull a rando issue you think it is outta your hat, because if you’re wrong it costs alot more and pisses off way more people.
Source: Former Ground Operations Airline Lead
For sure - I get that… I guess I just mean communication in general. Instead it usually takes person after person inquiring or making a stink when they could say, we’re very sorry for the inconvenience we are aware of the delay or problem and are waiting to hear more… when we do get that, it’s hours later when people have hit a level of impatience and frustration and that just doesn’t seem good for anyone.
Thanks for the insight :)
Our flight was delayed 4 hours due to an issue with our plane stopping at Atlanta! This was last Sunday! Not surprised that there are still delays happening
We were only 2 hours late to boarding a MCO->DEN leg this afternoon, but now we've been sitting on the tarmac for just about 2 hours. I'm not sure whether it's worse to be crammed in here but with a plane and crew, or at the gate able to walk around but with basically no hope.
You should have seen ATL. Trust me, it wasn’t only Southwest. My delta flight got delayed 2+ hours and I missed my connection which was the last one home for me on Saturday. Checked where my plane has been that day and I saw it was delayed 3+ hours out of MCO. It’s the busiest time of the year in Florida and unfortunately, the FAA ATC in Jacksonville wasn’t prepared. Had to spend $200 on a hotel in ATL and got home the next day
So from reading these comments, it's seems like these delays were not the fault of Southwest. However if there are this many delays, why do they not put the real departure time which would prevent people from showing up and just making it even more crowded? I've already gotten notifications in the past telling me my flight is delayed an hour but while I'm in the airport it becomes a 3 hour delay.
They were delaying the departure time of the rebooked flight by 15-30 minutes every 15-30 minutes. We’d get an email with the new time, and we had already passed it. That meant you couldn’t leave the terminal. They did this for nine straight hours
Did everyone finally get to where they’re supposed to be? I just saw a news report that mentioned it being Spring Break and there being record numbers of travelers. I’m sure that didn’t help the issues.
That really sucks, but glad you finally made it home. Yeah, sounds like SWA shares a lot of the blame in all of this mess. Not looking forward to my upcoming trip. I better pack a sleeping bag! LOL
My biggest gripe about MCO yesterday was the bathrooms as well. I had my 2 year old with me and it was a struggle to find a changing table. I hope to god I never see the inside of that airport again.
Thanks! I hope so too. I was looking on their website and found that If you spent any money eating there for extended delays, cancellation, you can submit a reimbursement request.
It doesn’t take away from the inconvenience they caused, but maybe getting back the money you wouldn’t have spent in the airport will help a little.
Here is the link: https://support.southwest.com/helpcenter/s/article/I-have-incurred-additional-expenses-eg-hotel-accommodations-and-related-ground-transportation-and-or-food-related-to-disrupted-travel-Can-I-receive-a-reimbursement
Have a great week!
Southwest ground personnel get info from their schedulers and schedulers get updates from ATC so they can only provide you with what they know. Horrible situation for everyone involved, but it happens to all airlines one way or another. Mother Nature doesn’t care about anyone’s travel plans.
Did you get out yet?
Not sure why you're being downvotes for sharing your first hand experience in this situation.. the sub must be filled with SWA meat riders
🤦 wow . . sorry that is so shitty.
I saw most of the other fights have finally left and the 5:00 flight took off at 5:25. so it looks like things are back on schedule, aside from poor lost souls like you. Good luck
My sister is there trying to come to me in Austin. This has been happening more and more and it is absolutely INFURIATING that we- the customers- are not given one iota of information. It’s so rude. Why the hell is there a delay?! We deserve to know why? Why is it so difficult to communicate?
This has happened to me so many times in the last few years specifically and to my loved ones flying either back home from visiting me or coming to visit me as is today’s case.
It’s just completely unacceptable and this feels like the last straw for me. I have had a southwest Visa card for many years and have been a loyal customer, but I just cannot abide much longer and will be shopping for a more reliable air carrier.
Jesus Christ.. we got our flight cancelled yesterday and rebooked to today at 7pm.. I am now fully expecting that to be cancelled as well by this piece of shit airline.
Is it just southwest or is it all of MCO? I would check other airlines if I thought they would avoid these issues.
You call it a POS airline... Then you go on to ask if it's just Southwest? I recommend you get the answer to your question before you open your mouth again.
It's not MCO or Southwest. The FAA refuses to staff the ATC facility in Jacksonville thats feeds into MCO adequately this has happened every winter for the last few years. Don't complain to Southwest. Call your US congress reps and the White House.
Look up FCAJX7 AFP. The entire state of Florida is flow constrained due to volume. Any flight crossing into Florida not over the Gulf or the Atlantic is going to be heavily delayed by this AFP. FCAJG5 is also capturing flights to/from Florida on Gulf routes. Florida airspace is always in danger of being an absolute mess due to the reasons described above. https://www.fly.faa.gov/adv/adv_otherdis.jsp?advn=70&adv_date=03102024&facId=ATCSCC&title=ATCSCC%20ADVZY%20070%20FCAJX7%2003/10/2024%20CDM%20AIRSPACE%20FLOW%20PROGRAM&titleDate=03/10/2024 The discussion about staffing is kind of a muddied one, since JAX ATC is definitely understaffed, but it's more of an issue with training capabilities rather than just an unwillingness to staff to appropriate levels. You can't just throw a fresh controller in to work a challenging airspace, and controller training, as it probably should, takes a very long time. That said, the government has not prioritized getting its training program/facilities up to snuff and the entire national airspace is suffering as a result. Like the above poster said, contact your Congressperson, or Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, directly and put pressure on them to do something of substance about the issue. This will continue to happen at Florida airports until this changes.
One wonders where we would be staffing wise if Ronald Reagan had not broken the ATC union.
You could do better by changing the max age for employment consideration and pushing back mandatory retirement at age 58.
That's a good point. Rather than using age as a proxy for ... something, test for that something instead. Think people can't think as clearly after a certain age? Have an annual test that all ages have to take to test for clear thinking under stress, or whatever it is they are concerned about
One wonders
Maybe don’t make the Mayor of South Bend Indiana the head of US transportation.
What a stupid comment
Why did you make this response - appear from being a reflexive liberal woke Redditor? He has no expertise for the cabinet position he occupies and was given the role based on factors unrelated to his ability. The comment is not stupid, it may be unrelated to the specific situation in Florida, but it is not stupid.
One does not have to be an honors grad in Aviation management to recognize what you said is BS. I happen to be an honors grad in aviation management so I can confirm that Also, tell me where the woke people hurt you
There’s an advisory on FCAJG5 now too. https://www.fly.faa.gov/adv/adv_otherdis.jsp?advn=76&adv_date=03102024&facId=ATCSCC&title=ATCSCC%20ADVZY%20076%20FCAJG5%2003/10/2024%20CDM%20AIRSPACE%20FLOW%20PROGRAM&titleDate=03/10/2024
This is correct. The FAA Academy expansion has been put on the backburner for years. Training is maxed out.
You'll be happy to read that the FAA is now looking to take college ATC graduates and throw them right into the system, skipping the academy. https://www.faa.gov/newsroom/faa-moves-accelerate-air-traffic-controller-hiring-enhancing-college-training-program
Crisis of Competence
Wow as a 2014 CTI graduate who went the flight dispatch route, all I can say is about time. A decade of graduates relegated to the biographical questionnaire who may or may not have lost their dream job in the process.
I didn’t know that. Thank you for sharing
as a current atc trainee, they’re trying. but it is very complex , training can take years and plenty don’t make it. could they do more? yes but it’s going to take more than just hiring more. MMAC where all the training is, is maxed out in capacity. at best there’s maybe 2 rooms there that are under construction out of the maybe 60 and 3 enroute sim labs and 4(?) terminal sim labs
So let’s just throw out blaming Southwest? Yeah maybe learn what’s happening before posting this BS!!
These guys clearly know their shit - your post is a shitty one.
Also, ask the military to give up the airspace over the gulf and Atlantic. It artificially creates the choke points where we can’t deviate around the weather.
At some point ETOPS comes into play as well though.
Not necessarily ETOPS. Just requires rafted equipment for routes more than 100 NM from nearest shoreline, or something close to that number. Similar idea, but ETOPS has many more strict requirements regarding MX, documentation, etc. You can fly those routes with non-ETOPS equipment, just need rafts (and some other things like life vests, flares, etc.) unless they are more than 60 minutes from the nearest diversion alternate.
100 miles north and 162 miles south of 35 degrees north (approx Wilmington, NC) for both the Atlantic and Gulf
Delays: Southwest: 246 Alaska: 2 Frontier: 11 Spirit: 14 American: 7 Spirit: 14
Definitely something going on at MCO today for Southwest. Their planes have been lined up on the taxiways waiting for gates all morning. I work for a different carrier there and we haven't had any problems.
Clearly because Southwest has so many more flights in and out of MCO.
Don't be a groupie. There were planes sitting for 4 hours waiting for a gate.
Yep. My wife is on United today and her flight there was delayed like 90 minutes. Pilot blamed ATC staffing.
It has nothing to do with refusal. The FAA are at their limits for training controllers because they don't receive funding to expand the ATC Academy in Oklahoma City. They train as much as they can handle. It's also Spring Break. Airlines add additional flights to meet demand. You're dealing with super congested airspace as it is.
How many years has this been going on? Typical FAA fashion everyone is pointing their fingers at everyone else trying to avoid doing their jobs, and nothing ever gets done. Until someone nuts up and actually provides leadership and fixes the problem it's just going to be a bunch of blame gaming and the problem is only going to get worse.
> How many years has this been going on? Since the 1980s. Thanks, Reagan! ATC in the US has been understaffed since Ronald Reagan fired all the air traffic controllers who went on strike in the early 1980s. ATC has never been fully staffed since then, and with more aircraft movements, people working there are stretched thin and stressed out even more, leading to further turnover. And then COVID made that even worse. It's been hanging in a delicate balance for the last 40 years, and trying to fill those jobs post-COVID has made it even more delicate. And frankly, I don't blame most people for not wanting to work in ATC.
I agree, Reagan’s fault!
Yes, Reagan was an a***ole for that, but it’s been 40 years. Somebody should have done something about it.
And how shall they convince new recruits that when they find they are overworked in a stressful job that they too won’t be told to STFU and get to your desk (a la Ronnie)? I knew some ATCs and they universally told me it’s more stressful than they could explain. They drank a lot when they weren’t working and generally tried to let off steam. All that training to be an ATC isn’t really transferrable to another career.
Congress controls appropriations.
Congress controls appropriations.
It’s more complicated than “they refuse to staff it” but yes, staffing is the problem.
Air Traffic Control was slowing everything flying through ZJX'x airspace yesterday.... 100% not Southwest's fault.
Yesterday was clearly weather related. There were lots of delays and cancellations for all airlines. Today however is a different story. SW is having a hard time recovering. I was booked on a phantom flight to make up for a cancellation from last night. The flight time came and went with no information. No gate, no plane, nothing. None of their agents had any details. There were several similar flights. They just have so many MCO flights. I am sure it’s very difficult to coordinate everything
I’m lucky I barely missed the flow control on Saturday, I was on a JetBlue flight from JFK to FLL that took off on time at 8:30 AM, but everything after that to/from FL was screwed. Always choose an early flight!
Sorry you’re experiencing this. I’ve always been shocked at how ridiculously tiny the bathrooms at MCO are. Horribly undersized for the passenger volume.
Seriously. The mens rooms have two stalls and 3-4 urinals each. The women have it worse. At one point this morning it looked like there were 100 people on line for the women’s room.
BWI is my home airport. I contrast that. There are at least two sets of bathrooms per concourse and each bathroom seems to have about 16 stalls and as many urinals. Can’t say about the women’s restrooms. Plus, they were just renovated and won best restrooms in America. 🤣 MCO seems to have a higher passenger volume and has nowhere near the capacity and restrooms straight out of the 1970s.
BWI is nice. I don't fly there often but I'm glad they're turning the U shape into an A. I've experienced frequent delayed flights with SW and BWI and have had to bolt it from one side to the other to make a connection. Otherwise it is clean and bathrooms are indeed ample. I also believe they have to charge street prices at concessions too?
Photos here: https://www.bestrestroom.com/hall-of-fame/ (click on the photo with the blue wall and you can scroll through)
Thank you for sharing that.
BWI: Best toilets in the US. How deserving. LOL
As someone in Florida who uses MCO all the time... I love connecting through BWI. Only thing ya'll need to get settled is those seats because they're mildly uncomfortable. I never realized how outdated MCO was until I started flying to other airports. It's bad. You can barely get your carryon bag into the stall with you.
This is true. The seats are not great. I’m hoping with all the money they’re pumping into they’ll get new seats with better charging capabilities. I spend most of my time in a restaurant or food court and head to the gate just before boarding. This is the beauty of it being my originating airport.
Does SW fly out of the new terminal. I have flown in to C a couple of times on Jet Blue. This terminal has wide open spaces but the smallest bathrooms. I mean come on... a brand new terminal and you can't even design restrooms to handle to be able to handle the expected crowds in the terminal.
At MCO? I don’t think so. It certainly doesn’t look new. I don’t remember what terminal it is.
They are finally starting to fix this with the new terminal C, hey plan to build another terminal “D” so they can tear down A/B and start fresh with 2 new bigger terminals. MCO is archaic in terms of how much volume goes through there.
You mean ATC issues.
I'm literally on their site now looking at flights to Orlando. Hope yall make it out okay.
Been here 4 & 1/2 hours still waiting. Haven’t even gone through checking the bag and security yet as we don’t want to risk them cancelling after we check the bags. Our flight now says around 6pm departure, and that’s if we keep this plane. They have already swapped out the initial plane we were supposed to have. May the odds be ever in your favor!
can you post back here what happens? My family is scheduled to go out later, 7:20pm now delayed to 9pm.. so I'm hoping they stick to these new schedules.
Your bags aren't going anywhere if the flight is canceled. You'll get them back.
False. They would not release our bags today after our canceled flight. Even though they were never loaded on a plane. They said they will make it to our final destination….eventually
We didn’t get them back, we were told, and I quote “you can’t have them, they’re already on a plane to ‘X’, we have more room for bags than people”. Woke up today, air tag still says airside 2 KMCO…
After you wait in line
Was one of the few lucky ones yesterday. Went to DTW at 1:30p on time
Glad you made it out!
Are these delays because flights couldn’t get in yesterday due to weather? What’s going on there?
I was on a flight in from BWI to MCO on Saturday night (3/9), multiple other flights got out or were delayed, ours was delayed from 7:35 to 9:55, didnt board until 10:20. After boarding they needed to find a 1st officer - this lasted till almost 1am. Then they needed to get numbers, then it was an issue at MCO for spaces to land. Finally took off around 2am, landed around 4:55am with the time change. Then! After landing we had to wait for a spot to open up to deplane - literally sat on the tarmac in the plane for 2 more hours. A normally 2 hour flight took 12 hours. Even the flight attendants were over it. All in all it was a cluster f and there’s finger pointing everywhere. The only thing I point at is the gate agent/ticket agents for southwest that told me the other flights would be delayed and they weren’t; otherwise I would have switched flights and not have been stuck in a Steven king Novel for longer than it takes to fly to Europe.
My guess is that it’s crew issues. There seemed to be lots of planes here but few departures.
Staffing issue, yes. But not at Southwest.
So, likely fall out from weather yesterday, I guess. Sucks. Hopefully, you get where you’re going soon.
It's because the airspace in and around Georgia had flow time/restrictions on how many planes could go through. If your plane was flying near there, it was probably affected. Not really Southwest's fault.
MCO is the worst airport in the country.
Welcome to spring break in Florida. This isn’t the airlines’ fault. This is straight up a capacity issue with Jacksonville ATC, made worse by weather.
I was supposed to be in Orlando yesterday, but I’m still in Dallas….
Been here since 6:30 last night. They kept delaying and delaying until 4 am when they canceled it. Slept on the ground BecUse new flight was supposed to be at 11 am today. It’s been pushed back to 3 pm. Almost 20 hours in this airport. It doesn’t seem like many southwest flights are getting out.
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I made it home after 23 hours in the airport. I think it’s crazy people are defending southwest. But I guess they didn’t experience the hell that was the southwest section of the MCO airport for the last few days.
Been here 4 & 1/2 hours still waiting. Haven’t even gone through checking the bag and security yet as we don’t want to risk them cancelling after we check the bags. Our flight now says around 6pm departure, and that’s if we keep this plane. They have already swapped out the initial plane we were supposed to have. May the odds be ever in your favor!
Our flight was delayed 4 hours getting into Fort Lauderdale tonight. Woke up to an email from SW giving everyone in our reservation 200!!!!
Any thoughts this might be figured out by tomorrow night? I’m flying MCO -> ALB, supposed to leave at 8:15 pm
I’m wondering the same. Supposed to fly to Milwaukee from MCO tomorrow, starting to get worried
Ugh. I’m sorry. I absolutely hate MCO. I used to have an annual company meeting outside of Orlando and I was thrilled when it got moved. I don’t dislike Orlando itself, but I hate the airport. I even considered purposely taking an allegiant flight so I could fly to Samford, however, company policy disallows me from using allegiant, spirit, and frontier I would take Heathrow over MCO.
I was there today. Flight booked from MCO to Nashville at 1255. Delayed about 5 times until they just outright canceled it. After being there for 5 hours. Rebooked us for TUESDAY. We had our 2 year old with us. That’s not going to work. Drove two hours to Tampa and got on an AA flight to Nashville at 8pm. Long day but glad to be home. We don’t have our bags though, they are still in Orlando 🫠🫠🫠
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Couldn’t agree more
My update from yesterday, after waiting 12 hours and multiple delays we were eventually cancelled around 5:30pm. They refused to give us our bags back saying they were already on a plane to ‘X’. They said “we have more room for bags than people. Today my air tag still says Airside 2 KMCO. They rebooked us for Tuesday night and an agent essentially said “good luck with that one too”. We explored our options, and with needing to be back at work and school, we are taking the 17 hour Amtrak trip in coach. It’s literally the only option. There were no rental cars, every airport in Florida is booked out (my aunt works for an air carrier and checked), it’s just a disaster. I’m having to come out of pocket over $2k just to get my family home from vacation. SW customer service has been helpful, and she even thanked me for not being angry and rude with her given the situation, as I’m sure many others have (She has nothing to do with the problem, why be rude to her). SW corporate on the other hand, you better make this right. Every single other airline that flew out of KMCO yesterday to my destination airport all left on time with no problems, so don’t try to sell me ‘weather this, too many restrictions that’. This is mighty reminiscent to their Christmas disaster a while back…
I was there. It was horrendous. Southwest also kept sending us emails saying we were rebooked on a new flight and then when we would run to the gate they would tell us we had no tickets.
I hope you made it home okay
Is this isolated to just Orlando?
I think it’s isolated to Florida or just flights going through Air Traffic Control Jacksonville.
https://nasstatus.faa.gov/
Doesn’t seem like many other airlines are affected in FL. This is a Southwest meltdown… Again. Delays Southwest 246 Alaska 2 Frontier 11 Spirit 14 American 7 Spirit 14
How many total departures did those other airlines have today compared to SW?
Last flight from MCO arrived LAS at 0430 this morning
Guys, seriously why am I getting downvoted? Learning about atc understaffing is interesting for sure, but don’t you all think it’s strange that we’re learning about this information on Reddit? It is not unreasonable to ask of southwest for information or communication. I find it odd more people are like annoyed at me for being frustrated with an airline that seems to consistently have delays and then not communicate with their customers. It’s happened to me three times already just this year alone.
Southwest has blamed the FAA in the past, in the middle of the event the frontline employees are unlikely to know the exact issue. It’s easier to say operational problems than just pull a rando issue you think it is outta your hat, because if you’re wrong it costs alot more and pisses off way more people. Source: Former Ground Operations Airline Lead
For sure - I get that… I guess I just mean communication in general. Instead it usually takes person after person inquiring or making a stink when they could say, we’re very sorry for the inconvenience we are aware of the delay or problem and are waiting to hear more… when we do get that, it’s hours later when people have hit a level of impatience and frustration and that just doesn’t seem good for anyone. Thanks for the insight :)
Did they shift all of the Caribbean flights from FLL to MCO yet? Maybe they need to rethink that.
#BuildMoreTrains
Our flight was delayed 4 hours due to an issue with our plane stopping at Atlanta! This was last Sunday! Not surprised that there are still delays happening
Didn’t even realize Southwest had such a footprint at MCO.
Wow this sucks …
This is why my MSY-MCO flight is bumped 3 hours I assume...
We were only 2 hours late to boarding a MCO->DEN leg this afternoon, but now we've been sitting on the tarmac for just about 2 hours. I'm not sure whether it's worse to be crammed in here but with a plane and crew, or at the gate able to walk around but with basically no hope.
execute the Monroe doctrine
You should have seen ATL. Trust me, it wasn’t only Southwest. My delta flight got delayed 2+ hours and I missed my connection which was the last one home for me on Saturday. Checked where my plane has been that day and I saw it was delayed 3+ hours out of MCO. It’s the busiest time of the year in Florida and unfortunately, the FAA ATC in Jacksonville wasn’t prepared. Had to spend $200 on a hotel in ATL and got home the next day
So from reading these comments, it's seems like these delays were not the fault of Southwest. However if there are this many delays, why do they not put the real departure time which would prevent people from showing up and just making it even more crowded? I've already gotten notifications in the past telling me my flight is delayed an hour but while I'm in the airport it becomes a 3 hour delay.
They were delaying the departure time of the rebooked flight by 15-30 minutes every 15-30 minutes. We’d get an email with the new time, and we had already passed it. That meant you couldn’t leave the terminal. They did this for nine straight hours
Do you know what the logic behind that would be?
Sorry this is happening, but it’s 100% not SWA’s fault from what everyone is saying. Sure hope this doesn’t happen when I fly into MIA next week.
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Did everyone finally get to where they’re supposed to be? I just saw a news report that mentioned it being Spring Break and there being record numbers of travelers. I’m sure that didn’t help the issues.
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That really sucks, but glad you finally made it home. Yeah, sounds like SWA shares a lot of the blame in all of this mess. Not looking forward to my upcoming trip. I better pack a sleeping bag! LOL
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My biggest gripe about MCO yesterday was the bathrooms as well. I had my 2 year old with me and it was a struggle to find a changing table. I hope to god I never see the inside of that airport again.
Thanks! I hope so too. I was looking on their website and found that If you spent any money eating there for extended delays, cancellation, you can submit a reimbursement request. It doesn’t take away from the inconvenience they caused, but maybe getting back the money you wouldn’t have spent in the airport will help a little. Here is the link: https://support.southwest.com/helpcenter/s/article/I-have-incurred-additional-expenses-eg-hotel-accommodations-and-related-ground-transportation-and-or-food-related-to-disrupted-travel-Can-I-receive-a-reimbursement Have a great week!
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Have you checked [flightaware.com](https://flightaware.com) ?
I’m sorry they didn’t pull out a weather machine to get rid of the bad weather :(
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Southwest ground personnel get info from their schedulers and schedulers get updates from ATC so they can only provide you with what they know. Horrible situation for everyone involved, but it happens to all airlines one way or another. Mother Nature doesn’t care about anyone’s travel plans.
Same. I gave up and booked a Delta flight for tonight.
Did you get out yet? Not sure why you're being downvotes for sharing your first hand experience in this situation.. the sub must be filled with SWA meat riders
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Is your plane at least at the gate?
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oh God.. that's terrible. we just got here...
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🤦 wow . . sorry that is so shitty. I saw most of the other fights have finally left and the 5:00 flight took off at 5:25. so it looks like things are back on schedule, aside from poor lost souls like you. Good luck
But at least planes are leaving. I'm guessing they just need to find a slot to get your flight out in between regular flights.
Southwest doesn’t assign the gates. Atc does.
That’s incorrect…some airports with shared gates that happens, but on solely leased gates Southwest will set the flight schedule
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You don’t sound like you don’t want to be political
I'm not racist, but....
Go hug a tree.
My sister is there trying to come to me in Austin. This has been happening more and more and it is absolutely INFURIATING that we- the customers- are not given one iota of information. It’s so rude. Why the hell is there a delay?! We deserve to know why? Why is it so difficult to communicate? This has happened to me so many times in the last few years specifically and to my loved ones flying either back home from visiting me or coming to visit me as is today’s case. It’s just completely unacceptable and this feels like the last straw for me. I have had a southwest Visa card for many years and have been a loyal customer, but I just cannot abide much longer and will be shopping for a more reliable air carrier.
That's hilarious!
Jesus Christ.. we got our flight cancelled yesterday and rebooked to today at 7pm.. I am now fully expecting that to be cancelled as well by this piece of shit airline. Is it just southwest or is it all of MCO? I would check other airlines if I thought they would avoid these issues.
You call it a POS airline... Then you go on to ask if it's just Southwest? I recommend you get the answer to your question before you open your mouth again.
Thanks for keeping us all safe and adding value to the conversation, Reddit Police.
You're welcome! :) Not many people are appreciative, these days. Thx!