Planning to fly this summer? Pack patience and maybe an umbrella.

If you plan to travel by air this summer, pack your patience, as inclement weather could continue wreaking havoc on flights.

The Road Warrior took in some of the fun last week while flying between El Paso, Texas, and Las Vegas and then from Las Vegas to Oakland, California, on Southwest Airlines, the busiest carrier at McCarran International Airport.

Expecting to fly out Tuesday from El Paso International Airport, be back in Las Vegas for a day and then fly to Oakland for an assignment that Thursday, a weather system in Phoenix, where a change of planes was planned, said that wasn’t happening.

After initially saying no flights were available until Thursday, meaning missing a flight to Oakland and a trip for an assignment, Southwest’s customer service team assisted me in getting a flight back to Southern Nevada on Wednesday night.

The travel fun didn’t stop there.

Heading back to McCarran eight hours later, another round of issues was met. The original plane didn’t arrive as planned, resulting in a gate change, going from the C gates to the B gates. There, the awaiting plane was noted to have too much fuel, meaning some had to be removed before we could head out to the Bay Area. Then, a check engine light popped on just after leaving the gate, resulting in the plane returning to the gate, leaving the passengers to sit on the plane. In total, the situation resulted in a four-hour delay.

As the above delay and cancellation pointed out, issues causing travel headaches are mainly tied to weather and mechanical issues.

“Besides the mechanical issue, the root cause of what’s happening does actually link back to weather we’re experiencing across the country,” said Dan Landson, a Southwest spokesman.

Hammering home how much of a factor weather has played on flight schedules, Alan Kasher, executive vice president of daily operations for Southwest, wrote a blog post on the company’s website on Friday.

“We have heard from many of you who are frustrated with our flight schedule reliability and irregular operations,” Kasher wrote. “And we owe you a better understanding of what’s causing these disruptions and how we are working through them to offer you a better product. We’ve been experiencing relentless summer storms across many parts of our country, including some of our busier airports, which has introduced a greater amount of delay than we traditionally see this time of year. This has impacted the entire airline industry.

“As we continue rebuilding our network to pre-pandemic levels, we currently have fewer frequencies between cities than in previous summer schedules. With fewer flight options between cities and high load factors, it’s more difficult to reschedule customers and to reposition crews when things don’t go as planned.”

So if you fly Southwest or another airline in the coming months, remember, be patient, be courteous and understanding. That is easier said than done, but if you are in need of assistance, just ask, as it was there when I needed it, as Kasher suggested it should be nationwide.

“We were prepared for an increase in travel demand for the summer; however, irregular operations can disrupt even the best-laid plans,” Kasher wrote. “We have teams across our organization working together with a continuous focus on serving you and our people.”

Contact Mick Akers at makers @reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on Twitter. Send questions and comments to roadwarrior@reviewjournal.com.