![]() Some consumer advocates are skeptical that the government will punish Southwest. Since Southwest plans to pay $428 million in shareholder dividends next month, "the numbers are not life-threatening, although brand damage has been done," Mann said. He estimated that could total 6,000 cancellations affecting 1 million customers and adding up to $300 million. Robert Mann, an aviation consultant and former airline executive, said the Transportation Department could force Southwest to pay refunds for all flights that were canceled for reasons within the airline's control, such as lack of crews. ![]() "They need to make sure that those stranded passengers get to where they need to go and that they are provided adequate compensation," including for missed flights, hotels and meals, he said Wednesday on ABC's "Good Morning America." He vowed to hold the airline accountable and push it to reimburse travelers. He noted that while cancellations across the rest of the industry declined to about 4% of scheduled flights, they remained above 60% at Southwest.įrom the high rate of cancellations to customers' inability to reach Southwest on the phone, the airline's performance has been unacceptable, Buttigieg said. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who has criticized airlines for previous disruptions, said that "meltdown" was the only word he could think of to describe this week's events at Southwest. Louis Lambert International Airport, in St. "For now, I want you to know that we are committed to that."Ī traveler looks at luggage in the baggage claim area inside the Southwest Airlines terminal at St. ![]() "We have some real work to do in making this right," said Jordan, a 34-year Southwest veteran who became CEO in February. In a video that Southwest posted late Tuesday, CEO Robert Jordan said Southwest would operate a reduced schedule for several days but hoped to be "back on track before next week." A Senate committee promises to investigate too. Transportation Department is now investigating what happened at Southwest, which carries more passengers within the United States than any other airline. Those weaknesses are not new - they helped cause a similar failure by Southwest in October 2021. The Dallas airline was undone by a combination of factors including an antiquated crew-scheduling system and a network design that allows cancellations in one region to cascade throughout the country rapidly. Other airlines recovered from ferocious winter storms that hit large swaths of the country over the weekend, but not Southwest, which scrubbed 2,500 flights Wednesday and 2,300 more on Thursday. were on Southwest, according to the FlightAware tracking service. "I'm starting to feel homeless."īy early afternoon on the East Coast, about 90% of all canceled flights Wednesday in the U.S. The airline's CEO said it could be next week before the flight schedule returns to normal.Īdontis Barber, a 34-year-old jazz pianist from Kansas City, Missouri, had been camping out in the city's airport since his Southwest flight was canceled Saturday, hoping to reach a New Year's gig in Washington, D.C. Travelers who counted on Southwest Airlines to get them home suffered another wave of canceled flights Wednesday, and pressure grew on the federal government to help customers get reimbursed for unexpected expenses they incurred because of the airline's meltdown.Įxhausted Southwest travelers tried finding seats on other airlines or renting cars to get to their destination, but many remained stranded.
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