PHOTOS – Dad Drives 30 Hours, 2K Miles to Get Daughter Stranded by Southwest Airlines: ‘I Can Do It 100 Times’

A father in California frustrated with Southwest Airlines got in his car and drove to Denver to pick up his daughter who had been stranded there since Christmas Eve.

After traveling 2,200 miles, Vinay Patel of Simi Valley explained, “If I have to, I have to. I can do it 100 times,” reports said Friday.

Patel did not want his daughter to stay in an unfamiliar city and allow the time they were supposed to be enjoying together to be wasted.

“They need to be realistic to tell what’s happening so [people] can plan,” Patel commented, adding his daughter was rebooked on a flight for Saturday but he could not be sure she would make it home so he and his wife made the trip themselves.

“After resting one night, the Patels drove back home, 2200 miles in two days and Patel told me he would do it again, 100 times. He didn’t want to miss anytime [sic] with his daughter before she went back to college,” Journalist Josh Haskell wrote in a social media post on Thursday.

Photos showed Patel and his daughter’s happy reunion after so much uncertainty and so many miles between them:

Southwest Airlines was canceling thousands of flights while trying to recover from what it described as “operational challenges,” Breitbart News reported Thursday:

The airline is still operating at what has been described as a ‘reduced schedule,’ leaving thousands of passengers stranded in various parts of the country.

On Wednesday, the airline canceled 2,510 flights, or 61 percent of total flights. There were 2,914 U.S.-related canceled flights in that same day. In other words, Southwest comprised 86 percent of those cancellations. 

However, Southwest Airlines said a full “return to normal operations” will begin Friday, according to Breitbart News.

Friday’s schedule appeared calmer, with one percent of the airline’s flights cut as of late Thursday.

The wave of cancellations was reportedly due to scheduling issues partly having to do with weather conditions. Airline employees also pointed to its outdated scheduling software.

Meanwhile, some left-leaning Democrats were unhappy with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg after the flight cancellations over the holidays even though he has vowed to fix the problem, Breitbart News reported Thursday.

In a social media post Thursday, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) scolded Buttigieg, writing, “Nearly six months ago ⁦@BernieSanders⁩ & I called for Buttigieg to implement fines & penalties on airlines for cancelling flights.”

Nearly six months ago ⁦@BernieSanders⁩ & I called for Buttigieg to implement fines & penalties on airlines for cancelling flights. Why were these recommendations not followed? This mess with Southwest could have been avoided. We need bold action. https://t.co/wVH4iAezfx

— Ro Khanna (@RoKhanna) December 29, 2022

“Why were these recommendations not followed? This mess with Southwest could have been avoided. We need bold action,” he concluded.