Breaking News - Southwest Grounds 8% of Fleet

For those of you flying Southwest in the near future, wanted to alert you to a potential issue.

Southwest has just voluntarily grounded at least 41 planes, which is about 8% of its fleet. This will likely cause widespread disruptions on its routes, and probably the outright cancellation of certain routes entirely in the short term. There are already widespread cancellations.

I recommend if you are planning to fly Southwest in the next few weeks, call Southwest NOW and determine the status of your flights and keep on top of it at least every couple days, as the status may change frequently. I'd also recommend determining other options in case you need to book something else last minute. Unfortunately, since Southwest doesn't interline with other carriers, they will not rebook you to another airline. They'll likely just offer you a refund and you'll have to make other arrangements.