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Southwest canceled 2,886 flights on Monday, or 70% of scheduled
flights, after cancelling 48% on Sunday, according to flight
tracking website FlightAware. It has also already canceled 60%,
or more than 2,400, of its planned Tuesday flights.
"USDOT is concerned by Southwest Airlines’ disproportionate and
unacceptable rate of cancellations and delays as well as the
failure to properly support customers experiencing a
cancellation or delay," the department said.
It said it would "closely examine whether cancellations were
controllable and whether Southwest is complying with its
customer service plan as well as all other pertinent DOT rules."
Southwest delayed 48% of flights on Sunday and 16% on Monday.
Southwest declined to comment late on Monday on the USDOT
statement but pointed to a statement it issued earlier offering
"heartfelt apologies" and said "with consecutive days of extreme
winter weather across our network behind us, continuing
challenges are impacting our customers and employees in a
significant way that is unacceptable."
The airline added it was working "to urgently address wide-scale
disruption by rebalancing the airline and repositioning crews
and our fleet ultimately to best serve all who plan to travel
with us."
Other major U.S. airlines suffered significant cancellations in
recent days but not nearly at as high rates as Southwest and
they have now largely recovered.
USDOT on Monday pointed to Southwest Airlines customer service
plan, which notes the airline will provide meal or hotel
vouchers for extended delays that are due to issues within the
airline's control but not for unforeseen issues like weather.
In August, major U.S. airlines including Southwest told USDOT
they would commit to provide meals for customers delayed by
three hours and hotel rooms for stranded passengers if prompted
by issues under the airlines' control.
Many airlines have previously offered vouchers or hotel rooms
for delays they caused but did not spell out all commitments in
customer service plans.
(Reporting by David Shepardson in Grand Rapids, Michigan;
Editing by Tom Hogue & Simon Cameron-Moore)
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