By ALEXANDRA SKORE, Dallas Morning News, thanks to Frank Wright
Southwest Airlines announced Monday that because of its December operational disruption, it could be subject to fines or penalties from the Department of Transportation. The Department of Transportation told Dallas-based Southwest on Friday that it “failed to provide adequate customer service assistance, prompt flight status notifications and proper and prompt refunds,” leading to a potential civil penalty, according to a government filing Monday. The carrier could also face monetary damages or costs resulting from litigation by customers or shareholders, the airline reported.
“Our discussions with the USDOT are ongoing and part of a process we’re respecting by withholding specific comment until we reach a resolution,” Brad Hawkins, Southwest spokesman, said in an email. “We’ve been discussing widely our multi-faceted effort and significant investment to improve the resiliency of how we prepare and operate in irregular conditions. We continue our focus on enhancing reliability, something that our customers and employees should expect.”
Southwest said it’s unable to estimate how much it might be fined. In late December, Southwest, unprepared for the freezing temperatures, ice and snow, was forced to cancel thousands of flights. Disruptions cascaded across its network as the company’s technology was unable to keep up with the need to reassign pilots and flight attendants. Eventually, the entire network fell apart and the company was forced to suspend almost all of its flights over several days during the critical holiday travel season. Thousands of passengers were displaced, some without their bags, for a few days to over a week.
Afterward, Southwest developed a plan focused on improving winter operations, accelerating investments and cross-team collaborations. The action plan also included an internal review and assessment with a consulting firm.
This past weekend, Southwest got its first major winter test with storms in Denver, one of the carrier’s largest U.S. bases. Southwest has invested in additional de-icing trucks and pads in Denver and Chicago. On Saturday, according to FlightAware, 66% of flights at Denver International Airport were delayed, but only 5% were canceled.