A winter storm led Southwest Airlines to cancel thousands of flights over the holiday season at the last minute. And a good chunk of the hundreds of thousands of stranded or delayed passengers still have no idea where their luggage is.

Airlines were already bracing for a chaotic travel season expected to generate a turnout similar to what airports experienced before the pandemic. Dangerous winter storms across the country only exacerbated this, leading every major airline to cancel or delay flights as the weather raged on.

And one airline in particular — Southwest Airlines — took a significant hit. A blizzard caused the company to cancel 60% of its flights, effectively leaving hundreds of thousands of travelers stranded. But regardless, whether passengers were able to make it to their final destination or spent the holidays at home, it seems as if many people are still trying to find their luggage.

“I’ve never seen a meltdown of this size, it’s the worst I think we’ve ever seen,” said William J. McGee, a senior fellow for Aviation and Travel at the American Economic Liberties Project.

McGee, who has been researching the airline industry since 1985, called the mass flight cancellations from Southwest”unprecedented.”

“There is no relief in sight,” he continued. “It’s impossible to guess when things are getting back to normal.”

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Southwest Airlines differs from other major airlines, like Delta or American, because it follows a point-to-point model, as McGee explains.

“What you’re doing with Southwest is, you’re checking a bag from the first city to the second city, and then rechecking it into the third city,” he said. “Whereas with American, Delta or United, you’re checking a bag from the origin city all the way to the destination.”

The point-to-point system, in which planes fly from one smaller airport to another, used to be the norm for airlines until the federal government deregulated airlines in 1978. Now, most major airlines instead follow a hub-and-spoke system, where routes are connected to a major hub.

Another issue, according to McGee, is the lack of oversight the airline industry has. McGee and the rest of the American Economic Liberties Project published model legislation in September that would remove the Department of Transportation as the industry’s sole regulator.

“After a summer of flight cancellations, delays, and withheld refunds, eliminating the airlines’ liability shield will shift the power back to consumers, state AGs, and state courts and legislatures, forcing the airlines to finally stop mistreating and cheating flyers,” McGee said in a press release announcing the model legislation. 

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