Arrival flights are displayed at Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport on Dec. 30, 2022. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)
Southwest planes took off from rain-soaked tarmacs on Friday, luggage flowed freely around baggage carousels, and thousands of passengers were once again crowding gates at Bay Area airports.
On any other day, this would have been a routine scene with the airline’s significant hubs in Oakland and San Jose. But after this past week’s colossal airline meltdown, wary travelers on the tail-end of the most chaotic holiday travel season in decades were wondering: Are things really back to normal?
“Everybody is checking