Airline Cancels Man's Itinerary While He's on Flight

Southwest Airlines tells Michigan man his return flight was canceled because he didn't board original plane

A Western Michigan man wants to know how Southwest Airlines could cancel his itinerary, on the grounds that he was a "no show," while he was on his trip.

Bob Woudstra last month took a Southwest Airlines flight from Grand Rapids to Ft. Myers, Florida. The flight itself was uneventful but when he landed he said he received an email from the airline indicating the rest of his itinerary -- his flight home -- had been canceled because he didn't make the original flight.

"It's terrible. I can't believe the airline didn't know I was in that seat," Woudstra recently told WZZM-TV.

To get home, Woudstra said he had to buy a new return ticket totaling $456.

The airline, in a statement, said it doesn't know how the error occurred but refunded the cost of the one-way ticket.

Woudstra isn't satisfied. He said he wants a full refund on both tickets for his trouble and expressed concerns about airline safety.

"These airlines don't know who's flying on their planes," he said. "Our security is supposed to be so good and this is terrible." 

Contact Us