How The Southwest Meltdown Is Affecting Las Vegas

We've all been seeing the news about the Southwest Airlines nightmare happening this week. Flights are being cancelled all over the nation. And many people have been stranded or severely delayed for their holidays. And it's not just the blizzard that's causing the issues. We'll get to that in a minute.

Las Vegas is majorly being affected by the issues facing Southwest. Cancellations continue to come in for passengers traveling through Sin City this week. According to FlightAware, there have been 209 flight cancellations at Harry Reid International Airport as of this morning. And an astonishing 192 of them are Southwest flights. FlightAware reported that 91% of the flight cancellations nationwide have been with Southwest.

So there are thousands of passengers stranded at Harry Reid this week. Many of them looking for rental cars or alternate flights to get home. And baggage is piling up at the airport baggage claim as people are being separated from their luggage.

I personally love flying with Southwest Airlines. They're friendly. Their prices are on point. And their flight attendants are some of the funniest in the business. But it turns out their laid back approach to flying is part of what hurt them dramatically with this blizzard.

While other airlines have had cancellations due to the weather, Southwest has taken the cake on the most. The blizzard is what started it for them, but what made them lose so many flights is that they couldn't keep up with the scheduling changes that came afterward. They have outdated technology with their scheduling system that just couldn't pull its weight with a surprise like this blizzard. Employee shortages due to Covid, the flu and RSV also contributed to the chaos.

This couldn't have come at a worse time with the influx of tourists Las Vegas usually sees on New Year's Eve. Southwest has promised to get back in line by next week, but when it comes to travelers for the Vegas NYE parties this weekend, many might be counting down to midnight at home.

–Wendy Rush

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It used to be that just our catalytic converters had to be protected. Now it appears whole vehicles are more in danger than ever before. Vehicle thefts are surging in Las Vegas. During the month of November alone, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department received 825 reports of stolen cars and trucks, as reported by 8 News Now. And in October, there were even more. 934 reports came in that month. That's an increase this year of 20% over last year.

And where you are in the Las Vegas valley seems to matter when it comes to chances of your vehicle getting stolen. The southeast area had the largest number of stolen vehicles reported. 132 were reported in October and 157 in November.

The area where the Convention Center is was also a highly targeted spot for car thieves. That location saw the biggest increase in thefts from last year to this year. With a 55% jump. That includes the area of the Las Vegas corridor (8newsnow.com). And it can happen in the blink of an eye. One victim reported that her car was stolen in the ten minutes it took her to go up the elevator and come back down.

There seems to be a trend when it comes to the make and model that is most commonly stolen as well. Most commonly stolen last year in Las Vegas was the 2004 Chevy pickup truck. The 2006 Ford pickup truck came in second in most stolen. Coming in third is no surprise, as it is often a coveted car for thieves. That's the Honda Civic. 2000 Civics, specifically for this year in Las Vegas.

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department urges residents to be vigilant about locking their cars, even when parked in front of your house or apartment building. Also, park in a lit area whenever possible. –Wendy Rush

Deep Sentinel broke down the list of top ten most stolen vehicles this year, and why they might be targets for thieves.

One of the top ten most commonly owned vehicles and the most expensive of the vehicles on that list. That gives it two times the appeal for thieves.

As the second most popular car in the country, that makes a lot of this truck available to steal.

One of the most commonly owned cars, this one also has a lot of them to steal. Plus, since they've been around so long, there are lots of older models with fewer security features.

Currently the most popular car in the country. So they're easy to resell. Plus these babies have interchangeable parts, which also makes them easy for thieves to sell.

Another model that has been around for awhile. Which, again, makes many more old models with little to no security features.

The GMC is under the umbrella of General Motors, just like the Chevy. Many parts are interchangeable. And we already know why thieves like that.

This is one of the few cars that are actually being stolen as their newer models. Thieves are basically stealing the coding from owner's key fobs and opening the doors without keys.

There's a huge market for reselling car parts, and the CR-V is high on the list for those parts. This model is stolen quite frequently.

This is the first year the Jeep has been on the list of most stolen cars. Police are reporting it might be because they resell for quite a bit of money down in Mexico.

One out of every 50 cars on the road is a Corolla. And they're also one of the most stolen. Specifically the 2020 model. Thieves like the keyless feature and built-in touchscreen.