US investigating December flight cancellations at Southwest

DALLAS — (AP) — The U.S. Transportation Division mentioned Wednesday it’s investigating whether or not Southwest Airways deceived prospects by knowingly scheduling extra flights in late December than it realistically may deal with.

The division mentioned that scheduling too many flights could be thought-about an unfair and misleading apply below federal regulation.

“DOT is within the preliminary section of a rigorous and complete investigation into Southwest Airways’ vacation debacle that stranded hundreds of thousands,” the division mentioned in a press release.

The Transportation Division added that it’ll maintain Southwest accountable if the airline fails to comply with federal guidelines about refunds and reimbursing prospects for bills when flights are canceled. The company mentioned it’s going to “leverage the complete extent of its investigative and enforcement energy” to guard customers.

Southwest mentioned its vacation schedule “was thoughtfully designed” with “a strong plan to function it, and with ample staffing.”

“Our methods and processes grew to become confused whereas working to recuperate from a number of days of flight cancellations throughout 50 airports within the wake of an unprecedented storm,” Southwest mentioned in a press release. The airline pledged to cooperate with any authorities inquiries and is “centered on studying from this occasion” and lowering the chance of a repeat.

Southwest canceled about 16,700 flights during the last 10 days of December. The meltdown started with a winter storm, however Southwest continued to wrestle lengthy after most different airways had recovered, partially as a result of its crew-scheduling system grew to become overloaded. Union officers mentioned that they had warned the airline for years in regards to the system, particularly after comparable however much less extreme flight disruptions in October 2021.

Dallas-based Southwest finally resorting to chopping its schedule by about two-thirds to reset crews and planes, which it did efficiently.

The airline employed consulting agency Oliver Wyman to review what went mistaken. CEO Robert Jordan has mentioned the corporate would possibly velocity up spending on some know-how upgrades because of the disaster, however that he desires to finish the evaluate first.

Southwest mentioned this month that the cancellations will value it as much as $825 million in misplaced income and better bills together with premium pay for workers and reimbursing prospects for lodges and alternate flights. Consequently, the corporate is predicted to publish a fourth-quarter loss when it reviews outcomes on Thursday.

The airline can be coping with injury to its fame for customer support. Analysts consider some prospects might keep away from Southwest for a short while, though airways have often bounced again rapidly from different service failures.

The chair of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., has promised to carry hearings on disruptions just like the one at Southwest.

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