OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — The Southwest kiosk was full of smiles Friday morning at Eppley Airfield. What a difference 24 hours makes.
“I’m thrilled! I am so excited,” Niki Holzapfel, who was visiting Omaha, said. “I’m getting on my flight today.”
Thursday the airline announced it would return to its full, normal operations on Friday.
Melissa Ostrander and her family, who were originally supposed to depart Christmas morning, were preparing for the worst.
“We were planning on driving yesterday until we saw it was still booked,” she said. “So we were just taking our chances to see if we could fly instead of driving to Florida today.”
When would her nerves calm?
“Probably when we get there and get back safely, because we fly back on Southwest as well.”
She says she will be hesitant to fly southwest again.
Other travelers say they didn’t consider flying on any other airline.
“No, I was just going to wait it out and call into the office and tell them, ‘Sorry I can’t make it,’” Houston resident Kim Varga said.
“I’ve always been very happy with Southwest so I’m hoping them a lot of good luck that they don’t get into too much trouble,” Omaha’s Janie Bruck said.
And showed support for the staff.
“I just feel for these ladies up here. I know it’s not their fault and I hope the people aren’t taking out too much stress on them,” Holzapfel said.
In fact, one traveler says Southwest saved the day – as they were looking to arrive to their destination in time to catch a cruise.
“Delta totally messed with our flights and our plans, and then American Airlines did the same thing,” Veronica Kabrick said. “We came to Southwest, and they helped us in less than five minutes.”
Overall, though, just a sense of relief that the airline is getting back up to speed.
“I was expecting it to be even longer than today,” Nisa Holzapfel said. “Originally, I booked Saturday and then Friday opened up so I’m thankful I got today at least.”
