DALLAS — High school basketball teams from Lipan in Hood County survived the Southwest Airlines meltdown this week. But, it took several 15-passenger vans and a valuable life lesson in overcoming obstacles to do it.
"Right here behind us. Got the palm trees and everything," a celebratory Brent Gaylor said during a Zoom conversation Thursday from the Gaylord Palms Resort and Convention Center in Orlando, Florida.
The Lipan High School boys basketball coach, and a second caravan carrying the girls team, had planned to drive to Dallas Love Field on Dec. 26 and board flights to Orlando for the KSA Events Holiday Basketball tournament.
Arranged for months, the players had raised their own money to help pay for the trip. But, while driving from Hood County to Dallas, their flights were canceled.
And with Southwest announcing the beginning of its multi-day partial shutdown to reconfigure crew and airplane locations, Gaylor and fellow coaches for both the boys and girls teams began looking for alternate transportation.
They were able to secure enough 15-passenger vans and, along with additional transportation provided by parents, drove the first day to Mobile, Alabama. Then, after a brief hotel stay, made the final leg to Orlando on day two. The boys got to the event just an hour-and-a-half before their first game.
"It was an experience and it was a memorable trip in the vans but probably not one we want to repeat anytime soon," Gaylor said. "I think that's probably the best way to sum it up."
Southwest is promising that nightmares like this are coming to an end. Although, according to FlightAware, 2,360 Southwest flights were canceled on Thursday and, as of this writing, only 39 appear canceled for Friday.
In a written update, Southwest says: "While Southwest continues to operate roughly one third of its schedule for Thursday, Dec. 29, we plan to return to normal operations with minimal disruptions on Friday, Dec. 30.
We are encouraged by the progress we've made to realign Crew, their schedules, and our fleet. With another holiday weekend full of important connections for our valued Customers and Employees, we are eager to return to a state of normalcy."
"They're sad and they're frustrated and embarrassed," Lynn Montgomery, the president of the Southwest flight attendants' union said of her fellow Southwest employees.
Asked if she had confidence in the airline's ability to recover, the president of the Transport Workers Union Local 566 responded this way: "My confidence is completely shaken. I mean this has been the operational failure of the century. And it just, there needs to be some other types of changes to prevent this," Montgomery said.
The airline admits that its Achilles heel in all this was scheduling and moving flight crews where they needed to be. Industry analysts said there is light at the end of the tunnel that they are in the right place, strategically, for Friday.
"I am seeing light at the end of this tunnel," said travel industry analyst Henry Harteveldt. "But I hope it is sunshine and not the light of an oncoming vehicle. Let's just hope that the airline's intentions to get back to normal are realized and that we never see a disruption of this scale whether it's at Southwest or for any other airline."
As for the Lipan High School basketball team, the girls team made it to the championship game but lost. The boys however, won their bracket. Seniors Reese Cook and Garrett Smith said the 20-hour road trip didn't affect their ability to compete.
"No sir," Garrett Smith said, "we're always gonna show up and play hard."
They're wishing Southwest Airlines the same success.