‘We Messed Up’: Southwest Executive Testifies On Holiday Meltdown Chaos

Southwest Airlines Andrew Watterson, COO of the company, said that he and his fellow executives had prepared remarks for a Thursday hearing. “messed up” amid the company’s holiday Reisen meltdown.

Southwest cancelled 16700 Southwest flights between December 21st, and December 31, despite the fact that severe winter weather had subsided in days following Christmas. Watterson stated in his prewritten opening Statement Before the Senate Commerce Committee, the company stated that disruptions forced them to cancel flights to ensure crews were able to resume normal operations.

“Let me be clear: we messed up. In hindsight, we did not have enough winter operational resilience,” He noted. “It became clear that, with the storm severely disrupting our Denver and Chicago Midway stations concurrently, we did not have enough resiliency in our operation for the severe effect this winter event had on us.”

Flight schedules for Denver and Chicago Midway, which serve as starting and ending bases for one-fourth of the company’s flight crews, were almost entirely canceled by Southwest in the days before Christmas. As the storm moved eastward, the same happened at other airports around the country. Communication between employees was disrupted by the chaos.

“This lack of effective communication and coordination resulted in compounding, frequent, close-in flight cancellations, rather than our normal practice of batched pre-cancellations further in advance of departure times,” Watterson continued. “This created an unprecedented amount and frequency of required changes to crew schedules that overwhelmed our crew scheduling processes and technology.”

Southwest Estimate In the wake of cancellations, between $725 million to $825 million will be lost. The company reported a loss of $220million in the fourth quarter. Warned investors that fallout from the company’s holiday meltdown would continue.

Watterson informed lawmakers that Southwest will seek to improve software used by crewmembers with an investment of $1.3 billion in information technology. Watterson stated that the company had gone “across the line” to improve its software. “above and beyond” The Department of Transportation established standards for airlines that cancel or delay flights. Customers were awarded reward points of $300 to help them reimburse for hotel accommodation, meals, rental cars and tickets they purchased from other carriers in the event of a meltdown.

“Southwest is intensely focused on reducing the risk of repeating the operational disruption we experienced in December,” Watterson was also mentioned. “We are committed to running a great operation each and every day, and I have the utmost confidence that our people, processes, and technologies will do just that.”

Legislators are expected to present legislation in order to strengthen consumer protections following the Southwest meltdown. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA), both of whom are members of the Senate Commerce Committee, introduced the Airline Passengers’ Bill of Rights and the Forbidding Airlines from Imposing Ridiculous Fees Act last week.

“Air travelers shouldn’t have to foot the bill for basics like a carry-on bag, a seat next to their children, or even for a sip of water, especially as airlines continue to fail passengers at every turn,” Markey stated that in a Press release. “Our nation’s largest airlines can’t even guarantee consumers that their flights won’t be delayed or cancelled, that their luggage won’t be lost, or that they won’t get stranded at the gate because of overbooking. The status quo won’t fly any longer. We must empower regulators and uphold passengers’ rights so they are treated with dignity before, during, and after their flight.”