Flight attendant

Southwest’s cancellation problems were likely the result of antiquated software and phone systems, which failed to keep track of pilots, flight attendants, and passengers. Image: Kevin Dietsch (Getty Images)The hell of holiday travel was only made worse this year as reports of horror stories from Southwest Airlines passengers and workers ran the gamut from frostbite to thousands of flight cancellations to outdated software. Now, these issues, which dovetailed over the busy holiday travel season might cost the company…

Photo: Jim Vondruska (Getty Images)There are screw-ups and then there are screw-ups, and then there’s the disastrous holiday scheduling shitstorm ravaging Southwest Airlines right now. Though the airlineinitially blamed its tidal wave of mass flight cancellations and delays on unavoidable winter storms, an enraged pilot and union representative at the airliner says something far more controllable may have played a role: old software.In an interview with Insider this week, Vice President of the Southwest Airlines Pilots…

When you hear the words ‘flight simulator’ you probably picture a complex setup involving giant screens and a painstakingly recreated cockpit that gives flight enthusiasts the chance to live out their pilot fantasies without leaving the ground. Alex Shakespeare’s “Alternative flight simulator” provides an entirely different experience: being a passenger on a cramped commercial flight without the payoff of visiting an exotic locale upon landing.If the name Alex Shakespeare sounds oddly familiar (aside from possibly being a…

Photo: STEFANI REYNOLDS/AFP (Getty Images)The flight from LAX to DFW did not go as planned. Emerson Collins, an actor from Los Angeles, remembers the noises started before the plane even took off: strange grumblings, a weird sound like somebody was on the verge of throwing up. They were coming from the plane’s loudspeaker. Flight attendants assured passengers it was a technical mixup. It was presumed that once the flight got underway, the noises would cease. Instead, they continued for hours: weird guttural moans and…