“The airline said to me that they were going to go above and beyond what’s required of them,” Buttigieg said Thursday in an interview with NBC News. “It would be an unfair and deceptive practice not to fulfill this commitment to passengers,” Buttigieg wrote, specifically referring to alternative travel reimbursements. The penalties include the ability to levy fines. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg wrote in a letter to Jordan that officials will take action against the airline if it does not follow through on promises to reimburse passengers for alternative transportation costs, as well as provide meals, hotels, refunds and baggage reunification. The DOT formally warned Southwest on Thursday that it will face consequences if it fails to make right by stranded and inconvenienced passengers. And the Department of Transportation is still taking a firm line with Southwest. However, that’s still not mollifying questions about how the airline’s systems could allow things to go so wrong and demands they not happen again. “We’ve set up a page at /traveldisruption for customers to submit refund and reimbursement requests for meals, hotel, and alternate transportation as well as to connect customers to their baggage.” “We know even our deepest apologies – to our customers, to our employees, and to all affected through this disruption – only go so far,” the statement read. Thursday’s statement came with more contrition from the airline. “We are encouraged by the progress we’ve made to realign crew, their schedules, and our fleet,” it said. In a statement released Thursday – following another bruising day in which a further 2,362 flights were canceled – Southwest said it hoped for minimal disruptions over the New Year’s weekend. Top image: Motorists in Dallas face wintry conditions.Southwest Airlines says it’s set up to resume normal schedules on Friday after a tumultuous eight days that left hundreds of thousands of passengers delayed or stranded and prompted its executives to make apologies to the riding public and government officials. Here’s more on what to pack for winter driving. Motorists are advised to have a flashlight, food and water in their vehicles in case of an emergency. “If you must travel, slow down and use extreme caution particularly when approaching bridges and overpasses,” the Texas warning says. Ice accumulation is expected across at least 15 states, the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center said. Up to a half an inch of ice or sleet is possible in parts of Texas, the National Weather Service warns. The weather will also make for treacherous road conditions. Their Monday operations were not significantly impacted by cancellations.ĭallas Love Field tweeted on Monday that its team “stands ready to treat and clear surfaces to allow for safe operations.” DFW was also preparing for bad weather.īoth airports urged travelers to check with their airlines for flight status before going to the airport. The latest waivers apply to travel from January 30 to February 1.Īmerican Airlines issued a waiver on Sunday for Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) that applies to travel from January 29 to February 2.ĭelta and United have also issued weather waivers. Southwest Airlines issued a winter weather waiver on Sunday and had extended waivers by midday Monday to a dozen airports in Texas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Arkansas and Kentucky. There’s a winter storm warning in effect for a large portion of Texas, including the Dallas-Fort Worth area, until 6 a.m. As recently as Monday morning, CEO Bob Jordan was outlining fixes to prevent a repeat of the airline’s Christmas travel meltdown.Īmerican Airlines and regional carrier SkyWest also saw numerous delays and cancellations. Southwest Airlines did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Dallas-based airline, which had an operations meltdown over the holidays, had canceled about 12% of its Monday schedule – about 480 flights, according to FlightAware. More than 900 Tuesday flights have already been canceled.Ībout half of those cancellations are Southwest Airlines flights. ET Monday, just over 1,100 flights within, into or out of the US have been canceled, according to flight tracking site FlightAware, with more than 5,000 delays. Two other western airports, Las Vegas’ Harry Reid International and Colorado’s Denver International, are also experiencing significant delays.Īs of 11 p.m. So far, the most affected airports are Dallas Love Field, Dallas-Fort Worth International, Austin Bergstrom International and Houston Bush International airports in Texas. More than 1,000 flights have been canceled in the United States on Monday as winter weather moves through the middle of the country, with disruptions set to continue into Tuesday.
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