Vincent Marino's Southwest flight from Fort Lauderdale to Phoenix with a dozen family members took off as planned Saturday but his daughter's later flight was canceled. "We knew we just needed to get in the car and drive,'' she said. ![]() (Southwest has a warning about long wait times – a big problem over the summer for many airlines – on its website.) The earliest Southwest could get them home was Tuesday. Todd said she waited on hold with Southwest for five hours early Sunday in hopes of finding other options but had to hang up because her phone was overheating and time was running out. Todd said it was the only option because her husband, who works in law enforcement, had to be at work early Monday because his employer is strict about calling out of work on holidays. Instead of flying Southwest from Baltimore to upstate New York after a weekend wedding in Virginia, the Buffalo woman and her husband drove nine hours in the car rental they were planning to return at the airport. Todd is frustrated, tired and out an estimated $300 in rental car drop-off fees after Southwest canceled her flight home Sunday. Melissa Todd and other affected travelers are beyond "not happy" with Southwest's latest rash of cancellations in a tough year for the airline. ►Southwest cancel or delay your flight?: Here's what airlines owe you (and how to get it) ![]() ► Southwest Airlines flight woes continue: 1,000 cancellations … and counting "I know this is incredibly difficult for all of you, and our customers are not happy,'' Kasher said Sunday. That's a fraction of the more than 1,100 flights, or 30% of scheduled flights, Southwest canceled Sunday but still more than any U.S. Monday, Southwest had canceled more than 360 Monday flights, or 10% of its operation, according to flight tracker FlightAware. Still, travelers need to check their flight status before heading to the airport. ![]() The airline's longtime operations chief and new president, Mike Van de Ven, also thanked Southwest employees in a video message late Sunday for their "heroic efforts'' to help travelers and said that Southwest's operations "seem to be on track for a reset so that Monday is more normal.'' "I'm sorry for the struggles that you and our customers are experiencing, once again,'' Alan Kasher, the airline's executive vice president of daily operations, said of the 1,900 flight cancellations that stranded travelers and flight crews across the country. Southwest Airlines has apologized for this weekend's meltdown in a memo to employees. Watch Video: Southwest Airlines cancels more than a thousand flights
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