A bride’s entire family missed her wedding day after Southwest Airlines canceled their flights.
On October 6, Kimberli Romano and Kyle Hlavaty, who live in Chicago, took a flight to Las Vegas to prepare for their weekend wedding. At the time, they had no issues with their flight.
The problems began when it was time for their friends and family to arrive. On Friday, October 8, the flight Kimberli’s bridesmaid was supposed to take was delayed. The following day, the couple realized the bride’s parents and a friend of Kyle are also not going to make it to the wedding.
As per CNN, the incident took place amid thousands of Southwest Airlines flights canceled around the U.S. Romano explained:
“So, I call my parents immediately and told them to double-check everything because we just got a notification that the flight was canceled. And, of course, it turns out that it was, and I was freaking out.
I was so emotional. That was probably one of the most difficult things I’ve ever had to do was to get married without my parents.”
Southwest claimed the cancellations were caused by a number of issues, including bad weather and the lack of adequate staff.
The couple got engaged in 2019, but due to Covid, they decided to have the wedding in October this year. They were supposed to have only 18 guests in Overton, Nevada, about 60 miles east of Las Vegas. Unfortunately, they couldn’t even have that.
The bride recalled:
“Everyone was scrambling. Kyle and I were scrambling to try to find flights. We obviously couldn’t get anyone on the phone. We actually went to the Las Vegas airport to try to talk to an agent to see what we could do.
It’s unbearable for a lot of people. And it’s very, very disappointing. I’ve defended Southwest for so long and been a loyal customer of theirs for so long, and the way we were treated at the airport — they were so rude and disrespectful and had absolutely no remorse for anything. It’s very upsetting.”
Kimberli managed to get her parents on a scheduled flight out of Milwaukee for Sunday morning, on her wedding day, but eventually, it was also canceled.
The only family present at the ceremony were Kyle’s mom and aunt.
The rest got to watch the wedding through FaceTime. Romano said:
“Service was spotty because we were up in the mountains and everything, but my mom said that she was able to see most of it. She couldn’t hear anything but she could see most of it.”
The couple even considered postponing the wedding again. However, Kimberli’s parents encouraged them to get married despite the challenges they had gone through. She shared:
“We were back and forth on it about what to do. But then, this was what we were working so hard for. This is what we had saved for so long for.”
The bride was completely heartbroken after her parents couldn’t make it to her wedding.
Romano said:
“There’s honestly nothing that they (Southwest Airlines) can do that’s going to make up for what’s already been lost, what’s been taken from me, essentially. You know, those are memories that can’t be replaced by just having another.”
However, she still demands an apology.
“I’m sure that I’m not the only person who’s been hugely inconvenienced by what happened over the weekend. I’m looking for a sincere apology more so than anything else. Money’s money. Money doesn’t bring memories back.”
