(CLAIR) – During this past holiday season travel disaster, Southwest Airlines cancelled more than 15,000 flights. Travelers were left stranded and scrambling for alternative plans. One such traveler was the daughter of Simi Valley resident, Vinay Patel. After two days of delays and cancellations, and being re-booked on a flight for New Year’s Eve, Patel and his wife decided to take matters into their own hands. They got in their car and drove 1,100 miles through a winter storm to Denver to pick up their stranded daughter.
The journey lasted over 15 hours in the car each way, 2,200 miles in total and one night in a Denver hotel to rest. Patel said he couldn’t sit back while his daughter was alone in a city where she didn’t know anyone, and with no guarantee Southwest Airlines would get their act together. Despite the long drive, Patel said he would do it again if he had to. “If I have to, I have to. I can do it 100 times,” he said.
Southwest has placed a lot of blame on the winter storm for the cancellations, but Southwest pilots and flight attendants say the cancellations had nothing to do with weather, but rather an outdated computer system.
Vinay Patel is an example of lengths parents will go to for their children. Undoubtedly, this Super Dad adventure will make the 2022 holiday season one the family will never forget.
