Tulsa, Oklahoma. — Southwest flight cancellations don’t just affect thousands. Businesses are feeling its effects, too.
Wanor Franca is chief revenue officer at Casino Cash Trac, which provides accounting and auditing software to casinos.
Franca sent 15 of his employees to Las Vegas, promising they’d be home in time for Christmas.
“Usually we never do projects around Christmas and New Years, and this is a very unique situation because of the Seminole tribe, they took over The Mirage in Las Vegas, the first tribe in Las Vegas Casinos, so it’s something we don’t have a choice. They have to come online on the 18th and 19th and we have to be there to support them,” Franca said.
But keeping that promise quickly turned into a challenge when he started getting calls from employees telling him their flights with Southwest were cancelled. Among them, Khoslahi.
“It’s a little bit misleading at times because we’ll see empty flights and then nothing will take off,” Rahi said.
Franca said he spent more than 15 hours on the phone with Southwest trying to rebook his employees on new flights, but catching the flight was a gamble because it was impossible to get through to a customer service representative.
“…many other airlines have flights, but it’s $3,000, so it’s really, really tough,” Franca said.
That’s when they start thinking about their options and start booking flights with other airlines. One of his employees even drove 18 hours to Las Vegas.
“We spent about $10,000 on tickets to make sure they got home. You know, that’s our priority and we’ll process the refund later,” Franca said.
Franca said the 15th employee finally arrived today and, like many others, they are now just waiting for their luggage.
He said Mirage was one of their clients who offered rooms to his employees until they were able to book flights.
Franca said the 15th employee finally arrived today. Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Transportation said it was investigating Southwest Airlines. I said it will do everything it can to hold the airline accountable.
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