DALLAS — The U.S. Transportation Division stated Wednesday it’s investigating whether or not Southwest Airways deceived clients by knowingly scheduling extra flights in late December than it realistically might deal with.
The division stated that scheduling too many flights could be thought-about an unfair and misleading apply beneath federal regulation.
“DOT is within the preliminary section of a rigorous and complete investigation into Southwest Airways’ vacation debacle that stranded tens of millions,” the division stated 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 clients for bills when flights are canceled. The company stated it’ll “leverage the complete extent of its investigative and enforcement energy” to guard shoppers.
Southwest stated its vacation schedule “was thoughtfully designed” with “a strong plan to function it, and with ample staffing.”
“Our programs and processes grew to become burdened whereas working to get better from a number of days of flight cancellations throughout 50 airports within the wake of an unprecedented storm,” Southwest stated 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 over the past 10 days of December. The meltdown started with a winter storm, however Southwest continued to battle lengthy after most different airways had recovered, partially as a result of its crew-scheduling system grew to become overloaded. Union officers stated they’d warned the airline for years concerning the system, particularly after comparable however much less extreme flight disruptions in October 2021.
Dallas-based Southwest ultimately 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 unsuitable. CEO Robert Jordan has stated the corporate would possibly pace up spending on some expertise upgrades because of the disaster, however that he needs to finish the evaluation first.
Southwest stated this month that the cancellations will price it as much as $825 million in misplaced income and better bills together with premium pay for workers and reimbursing clients for motels and alternate flights. Because of this, the corporate is anticipated to publish a fourth-quarter loss when it stories outcomes on Thursday.
The airline can be coping with harm to its popularity for customer support. Analysts consider some clients might keep away from Southwest for a short while, though airways have normally bounced again shortly 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.
