Buttigieg says Southwest must compensate customers after 'system failure'
'We are past the point where they could say that this is a weather-driven issue,' Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says of Southwest flight cancelations
Southwest Airlines CEO Bob Jordan on the state of the airline amid winter cancelations
Southwest Airlines CEO Bob Jordan speaks on the state of the airline amid thousands of flight cancelations over the past week.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg called on Southwest Airlines to fully compensate customers for travel and meal expenses after thousands of flights were canceled and travelers were left stranded at airports over the holidays.
"We are past the point where they could say that this is a weather-driven issue," Buttigieg told ABC News Wednesday morning, agreeing that the word that best describes the state of Southwest is a "meltdown."
Southwest canceled 2507 flights on Wednesday, compared to just 32 from Spirit Airlines and 24 from JetBlue, according to FlightAware. For Thursday, the airline has canceled another 2,348 flights so far, bringing its two-day cancelation total to nearly 5,000.
Buttigieg acknowledged that the severe winter weather sweeping through the nation caused widespread travel delays, but he noted that most airlines have seemed to recover while Southwest continues to be plagued by cancelations.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LUV | SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO. | 31.81 | +0.04 | +0.14% |
SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CANCELS 2,500 FLIGHTS WEDNESDAY AS NATIONWIDE TRAVEL WOES CONTINUE
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg during an announcement at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Nov. 21, 2022. (Christopher Dilts/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
"What this indicates is a system failure," Buttigieg said. "They need to make sure that these stranded passengers get to where they need to go and that they're provided adequate compensation – not just for the flight itself, and they should be absolutely be providing refunds for those flights that are canceled if passengers aren't able to fly or choose not to fly – but also things like hotels, like ground transportation, like meals, because this is the airline's responsibility."
Southwest CEO Bob Jordan apologized to customers Tuesday, saying in a video message that the airline's "highly complex" network was thrown off by the severe winter weather as dozens of aircraft and crews fell out of position.
AMERICAN AIRLINES SAYS IT WILL CAP FARES FOR SOME CITIES AMID SOUTHWEST’S HIGH RATE OF CANCELLATIONS
Canceled Southwest Airlines flights are seen in red on the departures flight schedules at the Southwest terminal at the Los Angeles International Airport on Dec. 27. (AP/Damian Dovarganes / AP Newsroom)
"Our plan for the next few days is to fly a reduced schedule and reposition our people and planes," Jordan pledged. "We are making headway, and we are optimistic to be back on track before next week."
On Monday, Southwest called off 2,909 flights, representing 71% of the 4,006 flights that were canceled nationwide, according to FlightAware. Another 2,678 flights were canceled by Southwest on Tuesday.
SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CEO APOLOGIZES TO TRAVELERS
Southwest Airlines CEO Bob Jordan sits for an interview in New York, Sept. 24, 2021. (Christopher Goodney/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
The Senate Commerce Committee stated that it would investigate Southwest for its high rate of cancelations.
"The problems at Southwest Airlines over the last several days go beyond weather," Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., the chair of the Senate Commerce Committee on Commerce, said in a statement on Tuesday. "The Committee will be looking into the causes of these disruptions and its impact to consumers."
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Buttigieg previously said he has informed Southwest's executives that the Transportation Department will hold the airline accountable for its recent problems.
FOX Business' Landon Mion, Greg Norman, and Paul Best contributed to this report.