UPDATED: 29 DEC 2022 05:55 PM EST
Southwest Airlines’ flight mayhem is showing signs of steadying after days of mass cancellations that grounded travelers and air crew across the United States, spoiling holiday travel plans for thousands of people.
The Texas-based airline preemptively canceled more than 2,300 flights on its schedule for Thursday — but so far, only 40 flights have been scrapped for Friday, according to flight tracking website FlightAware. Later Thursday, Southwest issued a statement saying it expected to resume “normal operations” on Friday.
“We are encouraged by the progress we’ve made to realign Crew, their schedules, and our fleet. With another holiday weekend full of important connections for our valued Customers and Employees, we are eager to return to a state of normalcy,” the airline said. Southwest has also set up a clearinghouse for reimbursement requests.
Southwest’s larger service airports, such as Phoenix Sky Harbor and Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, say the large number of passengers that had been stranded in their terminals have started to recede now that flights are being canceled preemptively.
“Airline flight cancellations continue, but ticketing for Southwest is moving well, with no significant lines,” said Jonathan Dean, spokesperson for Baltimore-Washington airport. Sky Harbor’s spokesperson Heather Shelbrack on Wednesday said additional staff has been engaged on-site who continue to work with the airlines to keep things moving.
The travel meltdown — which started with bad weather last week that quickly overwhelmed Southwest’s internal scheduling system, leaving crews stranded and planes parked — has made headlines over the busy holiday, with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg taking to the airwaves to pledge a strong federal response.
Ina letter to Southwest CEO Bob Jordan that was shared with POLITICO, Buttigieg on Thursday said the airline has promised to honor “reasonable” requests to reimburse passengers who were forced to take alternate transportation to get to their destinations. If Southwest backtracks on that commitment, DOT will “use the fullest extent of its investigative and enforcement powers to hold Southwest accountable,” the secretary said.
He continued: “It would be an unfair and deceptive practice not to fulfill this commitment to passengers.”
Similar actions will be taken if Southwest fails to provide appropriate hotel or meal accommodations and ground transportation, since it’s incumbent on the airline to do so during a significant event within the airline’s control. Buttigieg reiterated that the cascading setbacks throughout the week have gone well beyond a weather-driven issue.
Additionally, refunds under these circumstances are required, he said.
“Southwest must provide refunds within seven business days if a passenger paid by credit card, and within 20 days if a passenger paid by cash, check, or other means” unless a passenger accepted rebooking instead, Buttigieg said.
The stipulations apply to those affected by flight cancellations or significant flight delays between Dec. 24 and Jan. 2, DOT said.
Southwest had a similar meltdown last year, but tallied only 2,000 flights canceled through the single weekend. The airline at the time said the disruptions cost it roughly $75 million — although the latest setbacks are likely to supersede that figure.
Lawmakers have pounced at the chance to admonish Southwest for the meltdown, with some already planning to look into the rootcauses of the problem, while others place blame for the issue in part on passengers unable to affordably access alternate airlines ina tightly consolidated air travel market.
It’s unclear how quickly DOT could take actions against Southwest, including fines against the company for consumer protection violations, as well as forcing it to distribute millions in refunds for canceled flights. A spokesperson for the agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment on its process.
