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The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) says it will probe what caused Southwest Airlines’ “unacceptable rate of cancellations and delays” that left travelers stranded at airports across the country amid an intense winter storm.
In a Tweet posted just after 9 p.m. on Dec. 26, the DOT said Southwest’s flight disruptions and “reports of lack of prompt customer service” were cause for concern.
“The Department will examine whether cancellations were controllable and if Southwest is complying with its customer service plan,” says the tweet, which was viewed by 4.4 million people in less than 12 hours.
That plan spells out how the airline is supposed to handle issues such as cancellations and refunds.
About three hours after the DOT’s announcement, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg posted the department’s statement and wrote on Twitter: “I’m tracking closely & will have more to say about this tomorrow.”
The investigation could lead to fines or other punitive action against Southwest if the airline is found to be noncompliant with regulations. Airline officials didn’t respond by press time to a request by The Epoch Times for comment.Airline ‘Fully Staffed’
Southwest says it’s the largest carrier in 23 of the top 25 travel markets in the United States.
“We were fully staffed and prepared for the approaching holiday weekend when the severe weather swept across the continent,” Southwest said in a statement that preceded the DOT’s announcement.
“These operational conditions forced daily changes to our flight schedule,” the airline said. The demands overwhelmed “the tools our teams use to recover the airline.”
Jay Ratliff, an aviation expert for more than three decades, says it’s disingenuous for the airline to blame the weather.
“Southwest Airlines has just had an operational meltdown,” he told The Epoch Times. “There’s really no other way to say it. Other airlines had seen the storm coming, and the storm came and passed.
