Southwest Airlines began flying an almost normal schedule Friday with fewer than 50 canceled flights, a dramatic turnaround after a week in which thousands of grounded flights had become a daily reality.
Tracking service Flightradar24 showed more than 400 active Southwest flights at one point Friday, compared with about 160 at the same time a day earlier. Airports with a large Southwest presence reported no major problems as the carrier scrubbed about 1 percent of flights, down from about 60 percent in recent days.
“We appreciate the dedicated work of the Southwest Team to restore our schedule, and we anticipate minimal disruptions for the weekend,” the airline said in a Friday statement. “Once again, we value the continued patience and support of our valued Customers, and we apologize for the inconveniences of the past week.”
The cancellations helped Southwest to reset after a punishing winter storm pushed its computer systems past their breaking point — systems that were designed to help the carrier recover from such disruptions. In all, more than 15,000 flights were canceled, disrupting holiday plans for thousands of passengers during the busiest travel period of the year.
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The fallout will continue for weeks. Airline executives said they are tallying costs of the disruption and would be working through passengers’ reimbursement claims for food, accommodations and alternative travel. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has said his department will ensure Southwest fulfills promises to customers, and congressional lawmakers have pledged to investigate the incident.
“We are going to be putting Southwest Airlines under a microscope in terms of their delivering these kinds of reimbursements and refunds to passengers,” Buttigieg said Friday on “The Today Show.”
Southwest’s troubles began before Christmas, when a winter storm struck much of the country. Even as competitors quickly got back on their feet, Southwest found itself with pilots, flight attendants and planes in the wrong places. Crews had to find their own accommodations and faced hours-long waits on phones to speak with schedulers.
Henry Harteveldt, an aviation analyst and president of Atmosphere Research Group, said about 1 million Southwest customers could have been affected. It will take time to rebuild trust, he said, adding that the airline will have to prove in coming months it can operate reliably.
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“There’s no question that some of these travelers who were directly affected by this problem as well as people who saw it happen are going to think twice before they book Southwest for their future travel,” Harteveldt said.
The disruptions have also harmed what had been good relations between Southwest’s managers and front-line workers, many of whom were themselves stranded and seeking instructions. He said it also could harm Southwest’s contract negotiations with pilots.
The near-collapse left thousands of passengers separated from luggage and weighing choices between canceling holiday travel plans or paying last-minute prices to squeeze onto other airlines.
Sue Stenberg didn’t trust that her Southwest flight was going to depart Friday — or ever. When she arrived at San Jose International Airport that morning, the Phoenix resident was still raw from her recent experiences with the airline.
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“I am pessimistic,” she said Thursday night from her mother’s house. “I don’t know how you can go from canceling all of your flights to a normal schedule.”
Stenberg was supposed to fly to Arizona on Tuesday but the airline canceled her flight. “The first thing I did was get mad,” she said. “Then I looked for other flights.”
She tried the airline’s app, which was not working, and called the reservations line, never advancing beyond a busy signal. On the carrier’s website, flights were listed as unavailable. She considered booking a rental car but felt uneasy about driving 11 hours alone. She checked American Airlines, where fares initially were “astronomical,” but she found a reasonably priced ticket for Sunday and booked it.
Eventually, Southwest’s online booking system stirred back to life and she reserved a Saturday flight. Then Friday flights became available. At the airport Friday, her apprehension slowly turned to optimism. “I’m feeling positive,” she said. “Nervous but positive.”
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After a 40-minute delay, she settled into her seat, more than ready to fly home.
Another Southwest customer, Tyler Kotler, 23, of Denver, said he prides himself on being an adaptable traveler, recently finishing a three-month backpacking trip in Europe. However, he said, his multiday ordeal with Southwest to fly to Albany nearly broke him.
Share this articleShare“This week was a bit overwhelming,” he said.
The airline industry already was under scrutiny in Washington after a bumpy summer, despite receiving billions in government aid, prompting questions about whether taxpayers got their money’s worth from the federal rescue package.
Buttigieg has proposed new rules to clarify passengers’ refund rights in the event of cancellations and new protections for passengers who don’t want to travel because they are sick. Consumer advocacy organizations and key lawmakers are pushing for more regulations, although the airline industry has long argued that relatively light regulations have fostered innovation and helped to bring fares down.
Ken Quinn, an aviation lawyer and partner at Clyde & Co, said federal officials should use caution before basing new rules on Southwest’s problems this past week.
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“A crisis is a terrible thing to make new regulations on,” Quinn said.
Among some consumer advocates, Southwest’s woes reignited calls to strengthen traveler protections. Rights to compensation from airlines during delays or cancellations have long been confusing for passengers, who are entitled to refunds when an airline makes a significant flight change “regardless of the reason” if passengers choose not to accept an alternative flight, according to the Office of Aviation Consumer Protection.
Whether passengers are compensated for their time or expenses when they make new travel arrangements or find emergency accommodations depends on airline pledges to the Department of Transportation and what they list on tickets. Such pledges are voluntarily, but then enforceable by the Transportation Department once made, and depend on whether a cancellation is deemed to be “controllable” and within the airline’s influence.
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In Southwest’s case, the airline has committed to rebooking passengers on other flights, and to offer meals, vouchers or meal stipends for those forced to wait three hours or more for a new flight, as well as complimentary hotel accommodations and transportation to and from a hotel for people stranded overnight, according to the Office of Aviation Consumer Protections.
“Most of these flight cancellations were due to Southwest’s own internal problems,” William J. McGee, a senior fellow for Aviation at the American Economic Liberties Project, said in an email, “so the DOT must ensure that Southwest is NOT allowed to hide behind the act of God … clause in minimizing accommodations and compensation.”
Southwest has said it is taking responsibility for cancellations but couldn’t provide specifics about eligibility. Buttigieg has said his department will ensure the airline compensates travelers for flights, baggage issues, ground transport, hotels and meals.
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In a letter to Southwest Chief Executive Bob Jordan, Buttigieg has said his departments expects Southwest to compensate passengers for travel between Christmas Eve and Jan. 2, 2023. He said federal officials expect Southwest to reimburse passengers up to $3,800 for baggage-related damages or delays.
The Airline Deregulation Act of 1978, which restricted states from regulating prices, routes or services of air carriers, left airline companies accountable only to the Transportation Department. The act was hailed as a way to open the skies for route expansions and create market competition, but also depends on one agency to advocate for consumers.
In the past several years and under both political parties, the Department of Transportation has done “the minimum amount possible to comply with the law,” said John Breyault, vice president of public policy, telecommunications and fraud for the National Consumers League. “There really has been a lack of will by the DOT to get aggressive about this.”
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Advocates said the Southwest fallout will be a test for Buttigieg. McGee said his federal office has not used its broad powers to compel airlines to perform better, but has only “requested” they do so.
“It seems clear that those promises were broken many times over this week,” McGee said of airline promises to consumers.
Members of Congress have vowed to look at strengthening consumer protections in the wake of the Southwest cancellations, including members of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), chair of the committee, said members will look to update consumer refund rules.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) a member of the committee who has supported a passenger bill of rights, said the problems show the need for tougher laws and stricter enforcement of consumer protections.
“Southwest simply has failed to prepare for the worst and that’s a fundamental breach of trust,” Blumenthal said. “They said to passengers, in effect, if things go south you are the ones who will bear the burden.”
Breyault said the most influence that congressional members have over airlines is during FAA reauthorization votes every five years. During past reauthorizations, Congress has called on the DOT to make changes, such as limits on shrinking seat sizes and ensuring families can sit together on flights.
The lack of accountability has attracted the attention of state attorneys general who have lobbied Congress for power to represent consumers against airlines.
In August, the National Association of Attorneys General wrote to members of Congress that they were inundated with complaints from ticket buyers during the pandemic but were powerless to help. The attorneys general also called on Congress to consider shifting federal investigations of passenger complaints from the DOT to an agency focused on protecting consumers, such as the Department of Justice or Federal Trade Commission.
As Southwest’s recovery continues to move forward, Kotler said he has gleaned important lessons from the debacle, several of which he jotted down: “Avoid flying Christmas weekend, especially if there’s bad weather coming up. At least just please avoid Southwest.”
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