The U.S. Transportation Department said Wednesday it is investigating whether Southwest Airlines deceived customers by knowingly scheduling more flights in late December than it realistically could handle.
deceived customers by knowingly scheduling more flights in late December than it realistically could handle.
The Transportation Department added that it will hold Southwest accountable if the airline fails to follow federal rules about refunds and reimbursing customers for expenses when flights are canceled. The agency said it will "leverage the full extent of its investigative and enforcement power" to protect consumers.
Southwest canceled about 16,700 flights over the last 10 days of December. The meltdown began with a winter storm, but Southwest continued to struggle long after most other airlines had recovered, in part because its crew-scheduling system became overloaded. Union officials said they had warned the airline for years about the system, especially after similar but less severe flight disruptions in October 2021.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Department of Transportation investigating December flight cancellations at SouthwestThe federal government is investigating whether Southwest Airlines knowingly scheduling more flights than it could handle in December, when it ended up canceling nearly 17,000 flights.
Read more »
Department of Transportation investigating December flight cancellations at SouthwestThe federal government is investigating whether Southwest Airlines knowingly scheduling more flights than it could handle in December, when it ended up canceling nearly 17,000 flights.
Read more »
Department of Transportation investigating December flight cancellations at SouthwestThe federal government is investigating whether Southwest Airlines knowingly scheduling more flights than it could handle in December, when it ended up canceling nearly 17,000 flights.
Read more »
Department of Transportation investigating December flight cancellations at SouthwestThe federal government is investigating whether Southwest Airlines knowingly scheduling more flights than it could handle in December, when it ended up canceling nearly 17,000 flights.
Read more »
Department of Transportation investigating December flight cancellations at SouthwestThe federal government is investigating whether Southwest Airlines knowingly scheduling more flights than it could handle in December, when it ended up canceling nearly 17,000 flights.
Read more »
Transportation Department probe will look at whether Southwest overscheduled flightsThe Transportation Department is “probing whether Southwest executives engaged in unrealistic scheduling of flights which under federal law is considered an unfair and deceptive practice.”
Read more »