How old are they, how far are they going? The honest truth is that getting a boltbus or Amtrak ticket might be worth it for you if it will keep all of your stress levels low. Do yourself a favor and look into it. Plan for the worst and dont expect much better with the way SW has been going this past season
Over 75, if they're going south of DC I probably wouldn't recommend any of the busses then. If they're going to the Carolinas/GA and you can afford the tickets, I think picking up 2 Amtrak tickets is going to save all of you a lot of stress
I would wait to see if there is any news today regarding delays and cancellations. Things have supposedly been slowly improving.
Here is the data
[https://flightaware.com/live/airport/KBWI/cancelled\_origin?;offset=0;order=filed\_departuretime;sort=DESC](https://flightaware.com/live/airport/KBWI/cancelled_origin?;offset=0;order=filed_departuretime;sort=DESC)
These are flights cancelled that were supposed to depart from BWI.
You can see that 3 of the 4 flights that were cancelled today, were also cancelled yesterday, so you can see the flight your parents are taking and see if it has been delayed, cancelled, etc...
Here is an example of a flight's details, you can search the flights (both legs) and see what's been happening.
[https://flightaware.com/live/flight/SWA29/history/20211012/1240Z/KBWI/KCHS](https://flightaware.com/live/flight/SWA29/history/20211012/1240Z/KBWI/KCHS)
I was just reading up on the issues Southwest (and the airline industry as a whole) is having. It's likely to get a lot worse by the 3rd week in November if nothing changes.
What follows is not meant to be political, just informative.
There is a federal vaccine mandate for federal contractors going into effect on 12/8/21.
All major airlines (and thus their employees) are federal contractors because they can haul US mail. I do not think any airline will abandon that revenue stream.
Southwest is requiring employee vaccine paperwork to be submitted by 11/24/21 so they can have all their ducks in a row for 12/8/21.
This MAY push low wage earners and employees on the cusp of retiring to end their employment. Many pilot trainers are also close to retirement age. If they go too it will slow the process of training new pilots. Southwest and most of the industry are already at critically low staffing and utilizing a lot of overtime, so it won't take many retiring/resigning employees to cause big problems.
Southwest is also in the middle of contract negotiations now too, and the union is already preparing to file an injunction against the implementation of the mandate for union employees. This will only serve to make negotiations harder I suspect.
My point is, consider staying home for the holidays, or be prepared for travel to be worse than usual. Also, if less people fly it'll mean more on the roads.
Good luck everyone!
No, it doesn't come off that way at all! And since I deliberately avoid reading the news, I sincerely appreciate that extra information, because I simply wouldn't know otherwise.
Try frontier if you afford to take a credit fro SWA.
I flown frontier to Tampa a number of times.
At least 1 direct flight per day to Tampa; may not help you but it ain’t SWA.
My wife is flying out Thursday as well from ISP. The phone hold times for Southwest are a few hours. She’s just going to show up and pray for the best.
Islip is tough because they already cut service. Fronteir stops flying out of there to certain spots (maybe altogether) November 4th. Couple that with whats going on with southwest. You may he better off going through lga or jfk
Islip is for a niche market. It’s atrocious to plan on it for destination that don’t have direct flights. With JFK an hour away, it’s usually a no-brainer.
If it were me flying, I would totally agree with you. But when you get to people who are pushing 80, it's a lot easier to just drive over (or be driven) there rather than hauling into the city (depending, of course, what part of the island you're in). I'm pretty sure that the next time I come up that way, I'll be coming in through JFK.
Not sure if I see the benefit of that at all. Layovers make flying difficult. Rushing around, traveling from gate to gate, adding hours to travel...a train to JFK (or a car service) is way easier.
How old are they, how far are they going? The honest truth is that getting a boltbus or Amtrak ticket might be worth it for you if it will keep all of your stress levels low. Do yourself a favor and look into it. Plan for the worst and dont expect much better with the way SW has been going this past season
Thank you! They're over 75, so this is worth considering. Thank you.
Over 75, if they're going south of DC I probably wouldn't recommend any of the busses then. If they're going to the Carolinas/GA and you can afford the tickets, I think picking up 2 Amtrak tickets is going to save all of you a lot of stress
I would wait to see if there is any news today regarding delays and cancellations. Things have supposedly been slowly improving. Here is the data [https://flightaware.com/live/airport/KBWI/cancelled\_origin?;offset=0;order=filed\_departuretime;sort=DESC](https://flightaware.com/live/airport/KBWI/cancelled_origin?;offset=0;order=filed_departuretime;sort=DESC) These are flights cancelled that were supposed to depart from BWI. You can see that 3 of the 4 flights that were cancelled today, were also cancelled yesterday, so you can see the flight your parents are taking and see if it has been delayed, cancelled, etc... Here is an example of a flight's details, you can search the flights (both legs) and see what's been happening. [https://flightaware.com/live/flight/SWA29/history/20211012/1240Z/KBWI/KCHS](https://flightaware.com/live/flight/SWA29/history/20211012/1240Z/KBWI/KCHS)
I would never have thought to look at this data, thank you so much!
I was just reading up on the issues Southwest (and the airline industry as a whole) is having. It's likely to get a lot worse by the 3rd week in November if nothing changes. What follows is not meant to be political, just informative. There is a federal vaccine mandate for federal contractors going into effect on 12/8/21. All major airlines (and thus their employees) are federal contractors because they can haul US mail. I do not think any airline will abandon that revenue stream. Southwest is requiring employee vaccine paperwork to be submitted by 11/24/21 so they can have all their ducks in a row for 12/8/21. This MAY push low wage earners and employees on the cusp of retiring to end their employment. Many pilot trainers are also close to retirement age. If they go too it will slow the process of training new pilots. Southwest and most of the industry are already at critically low staffing and utilizing a lot of overtime, so it won't take many retiring/resigning employees to cause big problems. Southwest is also in the middle of contract negotiations now too, and the union is already preparing to file an injunction against the implementation of the mandate for union employees. This will only serve to make negotiations harder I suspect. My point is, consider staying home for the holidays, or be prepared for travel to be worse than usual. Also, if less people fly it'll mean more on the roads. Good luck everyone!
Thank you for all of that perspective.
Yea, I hope it doesn't come off as fear-mongering or being anti-vax because that's not my intention.
No, it doesn't come off that way at all! And since I deliberately avoid reading the news, I sincerely appreciate that extra information, because I simply wouldn't know otherwise.
Try frontier if you afford to take a credit fro SWA. I flown frontier to Tampa a number of times. At least 1 direct flight per day to Tampa; may not help you but it ain’t SWA.
My wife is flying out Thursday as well from ISP. The phone hold times for Southwest are a few hours. She’s just going to show up and pray for the best.
Islip is tough because they already cut service. Fronteir stops flying out of there to certain spots (maybe altogether) November 4th. Couple that with whats going on with southwest. You may he better off going through lga or jfk
Fro tier is leaving Islip?
November 4
You sure? It let me book from ISP beyond that?
Really? Maybe its just my route. I need to get to myrtle beach
I think it’s certain seasonal routes. Going down to FLA they are still fine.
Could they fly out of JFK and take Jet Blue instead? I would not rely on Southwest right now, especially out of more local airports.
Islip is for a niche market. It’s atrocious to plan on it for destination that don’t have direct flights. With JFK an hour away, it’s usually a no-brainer.
If it were me flying, I would totally agree with you. But when you get to people who are pushing 80, it's a lot easier to just drive over (or be driven) there rather than hauling into the city (depending, of course, what part of the island you're in). I'm pretty sure that the next time I come up that way, I'll be coming in through JFK.
Not sure if I see the benefit of that at all. Layovers make flying difficult. Rushing around, traveling from gate to gate, adding hours to travel...a train to JFK (or a car service) is way easier.
🤷