Thread by @KevinLewisNomad

I'm a loyal Southwest Airlines customer. I've never experienced anything like today's meltdown.

•no email, text or call about my canceled flight
•1-800-IFLY-SWA has had a busy tone for 5+ hours
•the SWA app/website won't let me to modify my itinerary
•no answer to Twitter DM

I'm trying to fly from Chicago to BWI, DCA, or IAD.

•Amtrak's sold out
•rental cars are sold out
•Other airlines' one-way flights start at $519, and there is no guarantee Southwest would cover that cost

Delays and cancellations are inevitable but this is next-level disorder.

As of this morning, my cancelled flight itinerary (MDW -> BWI) has disappeared from the Southwest app.

And the 1-800-I-FLY-SWA reservation number continues to be disconnected. Every time I call, I get a busy signal or a recording that says the call can't be completed as dialed.

It's shocking that the call center for one of the United States' largest airlines has (seemingly) been offline for at least 20 hours now.

The airline has only issued one formal tweet about this meltdown.

SWA is, however, starting to respond to customers in the replies section.

A few reasons why I LUV Southwest:

•friendly pilots, flight attendants, gate agents, etc
•two free checked bags
•competitive fares
•I often check in (after work) with less than 45 minutes to my departure and my bag always makes it

And to be clear, I don't even have status.

Southwest has turned some of its baggage carousels at Chicago Midway Airport into temporary holding pits for unclaimed luggage.

The Chicago Police Department and airport security are guarding the area.

The suitcases are organized by the departure city ie PHX, LAX, LAS, etc...

These people are all waiting in line outside of the baggage office at Chicago Midway.

There appear to be three customer service agents at the counter.

I just saw a few people in Southwest uniforms walking to the airport parking garage. They looked utterly exhausted.

According to Google Flights, these are the "most affordable" flights from Chicago to Baltimore/DC on other airlines today.

The million dollar question... will Southwest cover the difference?

With its call center down, a broken website/app, long airport lines, it's hard to know.

Ike Oguejiofor of Burr Ridge, Illinois, was taking his wife and three kids on a surprise Disney cruise.

Southwest canceled their 12/24 flight to Florida. They jumped on a standby list. Their bags made that second plane, but they did not.

Now three days later, and still no bags.

Oguejiofor said he paid $1,500 to cancel the cruise at the last minute.

"This is shocking. It's surprising, to tell you the truth. I just don’t know how [Southwest] can go from being something that was the best, in my opinion, to something I don’t think I’ll ever fly again.”

Big update! As of 6:55p eastern time, 1-800-I-FLY-SWA appears to be working again.

"We are experiencing extremely high call volume and prolonged hold times," a voice recording says.

This is huge as people won't be forced to go to the airport to get rebooked and ask questions.

Good news! Staff at the Southwest Airline check-in counter at Chicago Midway Airport have rebooked me on a nonstop flight from MDW to BWI. It departs at 11:05a tomorrow.

Assuming all goes according to plan, I'll land in Baltimore around 36 hours later than expected. ✈️❤️🧳

Today I filed stories from Midway Airport for @7NewsDC at 4/5p.

I shot with my iPhone 13 and edited with iMovie on my MacBook Pro. I sent the stories to the newsroom using @WeTransfer.

I wish I had my RØDE wireless mic kit with me for better audio quality, but I made it work.

@7NewsDC @WeTransfer My 5p story focussed on three groups of travelers.

•One family had to cancel their Disney cruise.

•One couple got stranded in NYC, and then Atlanta, before booking a Frontier flight back to Chicago.

•One couple made their Columbus to Chicago flight and were grateful for it.

Southwest Flight 2375 from Midway to Baltimore is boarding. The gate agents said there are around 15 open seats.

Most of the people I've interviewed this morning at Midway told me they're getting on their normally-scheduled flight to places like Denver, Orlando, and Montego Bay.

WATCH: I recorded my journey home for 7News at 6p.

Honestly, it felt like a normal flight.

The crew did not acknowledge the Christmas weekend meltdown, but I did notice around six uniformed pilots riding as passengers, likely part of Southwest's staff repositioning process.

And here's another story I turned about three Southwest passengers... at three Chicago Midway gates... heading to three separate destinations...

Gate B3 - Bob Montesano - flying to Orlando
Gate B7 - Rebecca Palak - flying to Albuquerque
Gate B19 - Mary Perros - flying to Denver