Back on track? Southwest has fewer than 50 cancellations on Friday

Southwest Airlines appears that it might be back on track after thousands of its flights have been canceled over the past week, with fewer than 50 flights canceled as of Friday morning. 

Only 39 flights for the airline had been canceled and 69 flights had been delayed as of just past 7 a.m., according to the flight-tracking website FlightAware. Southwest said on Thursday that it expected to return to a normal flight schedule on Friday after more than 15,000 of its flights were canceled during one of the busiest travel weeks of the year. 

The airline’s scheduling system struggled to keep up as strong winter storms hit key hubs in Denver and Chicago, having difficulty rescheduling flights and routing pilots and flight attendants to the right planes. Southwest ultimately canceled almost two-thirds of its flights for much of the past week to stabilize the system.

Almost 2,400 flights were canceled on Thursday, and 2,500 were canceled on Wednesday.

Southwest CEO Bob Jordan said in a video apology on Wednesday that the airline must update its scheduling systems. 

Southwest’s cancellations stranded millions of people traveling and have drawn scrutiny from federal officials. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg promised to ensure that those affected are reimbursed for food, travel and lodging costs. 

The airline has set up a page on its website for affected travelers to submit refund and reimbursement requests for flights canceled or significantly delayed between Dec. 24 and Jan. 2.