![]() When it comes to resilience – recovering from something bad that happens – the simplicity of point-to-point beats hub-and-spoke or point-to point-to-point. The many potential different origin-destination pairings – along with a model that must consider how many can fly on a plane, distance, speed, union rules, federal regulations, airline policies, staff availability, and other constraints as well – makes for a very, very complex routing problem.īut the point of all those options is to maximize profitability, not resilience. If “flexibility” is defined in terms of routing optionality, this is true. Thus, airlines operating in this model could recover more quickly. Several outlets reported that hub-and-spoke models are more flexible. So many flights go in and out of these airports, that flights going through these cities are really operating in a hub-and-spoke model, they just don’t call it that. Louis (STL) are the airline’s major connecting airports. Then it stays there overnight, and the next day the plane might fly to Dallas.Īnd while Southwest says they are point-to-point, Atlanta (ATL), Baltimore/Washington (BWI), Chicago Midway (MDW), Denver (DEN), Houston Hobby (HOU), Nashville (BNA), Oakland (OAK), Phoenix (PHX) and St. A plane starting in Richmond Virginia might fly to Chicago, where most passengers get off. Southwest actually flies a point-to-point-to-point model. Other large carriers like United and American rely on a ‘hub-and-spoke’ model in which planes typically fly from smaller cities to a hub airport where passengers change planes.” “Point-to-point flights cut travel times by eliminating the intermediate stop - typically a big advantage for travelers who are not flying from major metro areas. The origin and destination are connected via a single non-stop flight. Here is some coverage from the New York Times, “Southwest uses a ‘point-to-point’ route model…” In the point-to-point model, each flight is a single journey. The press has done a good job of reporting the impact on passengers, but they have done a bad job on reporting why Southwest performed so badly. A week after severe winter weather wreaked havoc on holiday air travel across the United States, other major carriers were back up and running. In all, Southwest has canceled about 15,700 flights since winter weather began disrupting air travel on December 22, far more than other airlines. Department of Transportation website, only factors like maintenance or crew problems, cabin cleaning, baggage loading, and fueling count as situations within an airline’s control.Passenger searches for her luggage inside the Southwest terminal at Los Angeles International Airport According to the Transportation Department: “If an airline cancels a passenger’s flight or makes a significant change in the flight, regardless of the reason, airlines are required to provide a prompt refund to a ticketed passenger, including those with non-refundable tickets, should the passenger choose not to accept the alternative offered, such as rebooking on another flight.” Unfortunately, you have few rights if your flight is delayed or canceled for reasons outside of an airline's controlĪccording to the U.S. That also means you don’t have to accept an airline’s offer of a voucher. In this situation, you are only entitled to a refund if you don’t take an offer to be rebooked on another flight. ![]() What your rights are if your flight was canceled ![]() That ones that do not are: Allegiant, Frontier, Southwest and Spirit. The ones that do are: Alaska, American, Delta, Hawaiian, JetBlue and United. Of note: Not all major airlines have rebooking agreements with other carriers. If you’re strapped for cash and are looking to rebook, you’ll still want to attempt to call the airline before or as you wait in line with an in-person rebooking agent. Experts say Google’s flight search option is the best bet for finding the most up-to-date choices when it comes to getting a new flight, which are also searchable by a number of criteria, including price. To avoid being trapped in a seemingly endless line to rebook at your airline’s terminal, get on the internet immediately and start looking for alternative forms of travel. Southwest has said a historically disruptive winter storm set off a chain reaction of equipment, technology, personnel and procedural issues that led to the mass cancellations. The outsize Southwest cancellations come just weeks after a holiday travel meltdown prompted nearly 17,000 flights to be canceled, potentially affecting millions of travelers. On Monday, it issued a winter weather waiver for 12 airports in the region that will allow affected travelers to get a refund or rebook for any flights canceled from Jan. "Above all, our main focus is on the Safety of our Employees and Customers," the spokesperson said.
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