Buttigieg Says Airline Is Facing ‘System Failure’ As Thousands Of Flights Are Canceled

Topline

Southwest Airlines canceled just over 2,500 additional flights on Wednesday, a day after CEO Bob Jordan apologized to travelers for the thousands of cancellations that began last weekend, a situation Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg described as a “system failure” he vowed to hold the airline accountable for.

Key Facts

Southwest canceled 2,508, or 62%, of its flights on Wednesday, according to FlightAware, which reports an additional 2,348 Southwest flights for Thursday (or 58% of the airline’s schedule) were also canceled.

Buttigieg, who spoke with Jordan on Tuesday, said “we are past the point where they could say this is a weather-driven issue,” he said on ABC’s Good Morning America, noting “the rest of the aviation system is down to a rate of about 4% of flights being canceled” as of Wednesday, following severe winter weather across the country over the weekend.

The Department of Transportation will hold Southwest “accountable” to its promises to customers and ensure it refunds passengers whose flights were canceled, Buttigieg said, adding the airline should also compensate stranded travelers for hotels, alternate transportation and meal expenses as a result of the canceled flights.

In a statement issued Tuesday, Jordan said he was “truly sorry” for the Southwest cancellations–which total an upwards of 15,000 since December 22–an issue Jordan attributed to weather, along with the airline’s large reach and “complex” point-to-point network.

Jordan predicted the airline would be back up to speed before next week, but said Southwest would fly on a reduced schedule to “catch up” while vowing to “upgrade systems” to avoid a repeat of the mass cancellations in the future.

Key Background

Severe winter weather in multiple cities across the country, including bitter cold temperatures that stretched from Denver to New York–where more than 30 people were killed from the effects of a historic blizzard in Buffalo–crippled airlines over Christmas weekend and left thousands of passengers stranded. More than 3,200 U.S. flights were canceled Monday, according to FlightAware, and an additional 7,794 were delayed. Delays surpassed 1,700 as of Wednesday, while 2,373 domestic flights were already canceled for Thursday. Southwest accounts for most of Thursday’s U.S. flight delays and cancellations, with Jordan saying the airline needed to “significantly reduce our flying” as many Southwest staff and planes are out of position. Delta Air Lines said it would cap fares through Saturday in all Southwest markets, while American and United vowed to cap fares in cities affected by severe weather.

Tangent

Southwest stock dipped 2.3% Wednesday morning, after falling 6% to its lowest level in two months on Tuesday.

Big Number

379. That’s the number of canceled flights in and out of Denver International Airport on Wednesday, the most of any airport worldwide.

Further Reading

Southwest Stock Plunges: Flight Cancellations Top 10,000 As Feds ‘Examine’ Airline’s Historic Winter Storm Woes (Forbes)

Winter Storm Update: 28 Reportedly Dead, More Than 100,000 Homes Without Power On Christmas Day (Forbes)

In Photos: Record Snowfall And 2 Million Without Power As Elliott Batters States (Forbes)