Southwest Airlines and Buffalo Snowstorm Problems, and Buffalo, New York, Real Estate Market
By Leroy A. Brown
The winter snow season has started with a bang with extreme cold weather, lots of snow, freezing rain, blizzards, and storms in both Canada and the United States of America (U.S.A.).
Winter SNOWSTORM
A terrible winter snowstorm caused havoc across Canada and the U.S.A.
The winter snowstorm deposited multiple feet (ft) of snow.
Southern Ontario in Canada, and Western New York in the United States (U.S.), were hit hard.
Cities like Chatham – Kent in Ontario, Canada, and Buffalo in New York, U.S.A., had severe winter weather like freezing rain, blizzards, storms, and heavy winds, coupled with wind chill.
By December 27, 2022, at least thirty-one (31) people were reported dead in New York’s Erie County.
Deaths were attributed to three (3) main factors:
* Emergency medical services (E.M.S.) are not able to get to people in need on time
* Freezing to death
* Cardiac arrest
To make matters worse, many Ontario, Canada, and New York, U.S.A. areas had no electric power.
Therefore, many homes had no heat even up to Wednesday, December 28, 2022.
At the same time, while the winter snowstorm created havoc, several people took disadvantage of the situation by breaking into business premises.
The police were able to arrest some individuals for break-ins.
Some streets in Canada and the U.S. were utterly impassable due to the storm.
Buffalo, New York, U.S.A.
On Monday, December 26, 2022, U.S. President, Joe Biden, declared an emergency for New York, which allowed more federal resources to be available to assist disaster relief efforts in Erie County in New York and Genesee County in Michigan.
One of the many additional supports given was having one hundred (100) military police (M.P.) from the New York National Guard go to Eire County to help.
The winter snowstorm effects in the City of Buffalo are considered worse than the outcome of the blizzard of 1977, from which twenty-three (23) people died.
Erie County Executive, Mark C. Poloncarz, considered the weather “horrendous.”
In Buffalo, emergency and recovery vehicles were stuck in the snow and had to be rescued, according to the City of Buffalo's First Deputy Mayor and Chief of Staff, Crystal Rodriguez-Dabney.
Buffalo Niagara International Airport was closed for a while during the winter snowstorm, which caused flight delays and cancellations.
Hundreds of vehicles were also abandoned.
New York State Police Acting Superintendent Steven Nigrelli stated that authorities were doing door-to-door and car–to-car checks for people.
Erie County Sheriff John Garcia stated that law enforcement would be doing welfare checks as more roads are cleared.
By Tuesday, December 27, 2022, there were just under two thousand (<2,000) residents without electric power in Buffalo, according to the City of Buffalo Mayor, Byron Brown, as utility workers were performing tirelessly to restore electric power.
The City of Buffalo has had over one hundred (>100) inches of snow thus far during the winter snow season.
U.S. States
More than fifty (>50) people have died in the U.S. as a result of the winter snowstorm, with these states reporting deaths:
~ New York
~ Colorado
~ Kansas
~ Kentucky
~ Missouri
~ New Hampshire
~ Ohio
~ South Carolina
~ Tennessee
~ Vermont
~ Wisconsin
Southwest Airlines
Approximately more than ninety percent (>90%) of the flights that were canceled in the U.S. as of Wednesday, December 28, 2022, as a result of the winter snowstorm were Southwest Airlines’ flights, as reported.
Skywest Airlines was stated as having the second most flight cancellations.
One of the reasons for the challenges Southwest Airlines faced was the disruptions caused by the winter snowstorm at two (2) of Southwest Airlines’ biggest hubs – Chicago Midway International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, and Denver International Airport in Denver, Colorado.
Another reason given for Southwest Airlines' difficulties is its shortage of staff as a result of the following:
* Not having enough employees on hand
* Some becoming ill from the flu, Covid-19, and respiratory syncytial virus (R.S.V.)
An additional concern affecting Southwest Airlines is that flight crews can only work for specified hours according to federal safety regulations.
However, Southwest Airlines' problems were exacerbated by the need for more timely customer service.
The inadequate customer service provided by Southwest Airlines is because the airline did not have enough workforce, according to Transport Workers Union (TWU) Local 556 President and Lead Negotiator, Lyn Montgomery.
According to reports, Southwest Airlines Chief Operating Officer (C.O.O.), Andrew Watterson, identified Southwest Airlines’ outdated scheduling software as part of the challenges the airline is experiencing.
President of Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, Captain Casey Murray, highlighted that the outdated processes and information technology (I.T.) systems had been a cause of concern for a while.
Southwest Airlines Chief Executive Officer (C.E.O.), Bob Jordan, has indicated his intentions to have the company invest in better systems.
The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) is investigating.
This “meltdown” that Southwest Airlines is facing happened before in October 2021, when the airline canceled more than 2,000 flights over four days, costing about US$75 million.
Buffalo, New York, Real Estate Market
Buffalo, New York, real estate market is considered very competitive and is regarded as a seller’s market.
Homes receive about five (5) offers each and sell within 8 – 12 days.
Homes for sale in Buffalo, New York, real estate market may range from US$5,000 to US$2,500,000.
Homes for rent in Buffalo, New York, real estate market may range from US$375 to US$7,500 per month.
The average home sale price was about US$200,000 in October 2022, which is up approximately 7% since last year.
The average home price per square foot (sq. ft.) is about US$126, which is up approximately 12% since last year.
The median home sale price is about US$207,000.
A typical house may be listed for US$170,000 but sold for US$207,000.
Fewer homes are being sold now compared to last year.
The sale-to-listing price ratio is about 100%.
According to the article ‘Buffalo ranked fifth in top housing markets for 2023’ by Taylor Epps from WKBW news station in Buffalo, New York, the cost of living and housing in Buffalo is low compared to other cities.
And because rents are getting higher, more people are buying homes in Buffalo, New York.
Neighborhoods in Buffalo, New York
North Park, Lovejoy, and South Park are considered the best neighborhoods in and around Buffalo.
The median listing home prices for North Park, Lovejoy, and South Park are about US$279,000, US$104,000, and US$189,000, respectively.
Elmwood-Bidwell is considered the most expensive neighborhood because it had the highest median home listing price of about US$429,000.
Broadway-Fillmore is considered the most affordable neighborhood because it had the lowest median home listing price of about US$89,000.
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