{"id":1805420,"date":"2023-01-14T06:20:08","date_gmt":"2023-01-14T11:20:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1805420"},"modified":"2023-01-14T06:23:21","modified_gmt":"2023-01-14T11:23:21","slug":"senate-dems-push-southwest-ceo-for-answers-on-christmas-meltdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/senate-dems-push-southwest-ceo-for-answers-on-christmas-meltdown\/","title":{"rendered":"Senate Dems Push Southwest CEO for Answers on Christmas Meltdown"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fsenate-dems-push-southwest-ceo-for-answers-on-christmas-meltdown%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1805420&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47-->\n<div class=\"PageBuilder-col-full PageBuilder-col PageBuilder-article\">\n<div class=\"TopBanner-container\" data-top-banner-placeholder=\"true\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"PageBuilder-col-full PageBuilder-col PageBuilder-article\">\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"PageBuilder-col-9 PageBuilder-col PageBuilder-article\">\n<div class=\"RenderKeyPoints-keyPoints\" id=\"RegularArticle-KeyPoints-4\" data-test=\"keyPoints-1\" data-analytics=\"RegularArticle-keyPoints-4-1\">\n<div class=\"RenderKeyPoints-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"RenderKeyPoints-list\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"group\">\n<ul>\n<li>Southwest CEO Bob Jordan was contacted by fifteen senators to request answers regarding the airline&#8217;s year end meltdown that left thousands homeless during the holiday season.<\/li>\n<li>The senators gave Jordan until February 2nd to respond.<\/li>\n<li>Southwest is still addressing reimbursement requests from affected customers. They expect disruptions to cause significant losses in their fourth quarter.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ArticleBody-articleBody\" id=\"RegularArticle-ArticleBody-5\" data-module=\"ArticleBody\" data-test=\"articleBody-2\" data-analytics=\"RegularArticle-articleBody-5-2\">\n<div class=\"InlineImage-imageEmbed\" id=\"ArticleBody-InlineImage-106987301\" data-test=\"InlineImage\">\n<div class=\"InlineImage-wrapper\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"InlineImage-imageEmbedCaption\">CNBC interviewed Bob Jordan, Southwest Airlines Executive Vice President, as he spoke to the media outside of the New York Stock Exchange, (NYSE) in New York City on December 9, 2021.<\/div>\n<div class=\"InlineImage-imageEmbedCredit\">Brendan McDermid | Reuters<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"group\">\n<p>15 senators including Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Cory Booker. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.markey.senate.gov\/imo\/media\/doc\/senators_letter_to_southwest_airlines_-_january_2023pdf.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">sent a letter<\/a> To <span class=\"QuoteInBody-quoteNameContainer\" data-test=\"QuoteInBody\" id=\"RegularArticle-QuoteInBody-2\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/quotes\/LUV\/\">Southwest Airlines<\/a><span class=\"QuoteInBody-inlineButton\"><span class=\"AddToWatchlistButton-watchlistContainer\" id=\"-WatchlistDropdown\" data-analytics-id=\"-WatchlistDropdown\"><button class=\"AddToWatchlistButton-watchlistButton\"><span class=\"QuoteInBody-quoteNameContainer\" data-test=\"QuoteInBody\"><\/span><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> This week, CEO Bob Jordan demanded answers from the airline about how it managed 2022 holiday travel disruptions that left thousands of passengers stranded at airports.<\/p>\n<p>These questions demand details on the cause of the meltdown. Southwest&#8217;s scheduling software, which was overloaded with crew members, buckled due to all the flight changes. Due to severe winter weather in the U.S., and high holiday travel demand, mass cancellations were combined with flight changes that caused stress for U.S. airlines. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2022\/12\/24\/winter-storms-force-airlines-to-cancel-10000-flights.html\">There are thousands of flights<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Southwest&#8217;s problems worsened after the storm. To try and reset its operations, it cancelled a lot of its flights, causing havoc for hundreds of thousands of customers.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Although winter storm Elliott disrupted flights across the country, every other airline operating in the United States managed to return to a regular flight schedule shortly thereafter \u2014 except Southwest,&#8221; This is what the Thursday letter reads.<\/p>\n<p>The airline <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2023\/01\/06\/southwest-airlines-expects-to-report-net-loss-in-fourth-quarter-after-mass-cancellations.html\">Cancelled<\/a> Between Christmas Eve and New Year\u2019s Eve, there were nearly 17,000 flights. According to the company, the financial meltdown would have a cost of $725 million to $825 million in its fourth quarter.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We appreciate the concerns expressed in the letter from the Senators and share in the commitment to ensuring Southwest&#8217;s Customers are properly cared for and that actions are taken to mitigate risks of this happening again,&#8221; Southwest made the statement in a statement. &#8220;We hope the recent refunds, reimbursements of expenses, and goodwill gestures to our Customers and Employees demonstrate that we want to go above and beyond in earning their trust once again.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The senators also demanded information from the airline about compensating passengers affected by Southwest cancellations. This included refunds on tickets, baggage returns and reimbursements for alternate travel arrangements.<\/p>\n<p>Southwest is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2023\/01\/03\/southwest-cancellations-stabilize.html\">still<\/a> Refund requests from impacted customers will be reviewed.<\/p>\n<p>The letter by the senators also highlights Southwest\u2019s use of funds. It claims it neglected to update companywide system that were long out of date.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Southwest has long known that its software was outdated, and the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association had warned that such a debacle was inevitable unless Southwest invested in new scheduling systems,&#8221; According to the letter. &#8220;Instead of making those investments, Southwest distributed over $1.8 billion in dividends to its shareholders and bought back over $11 billion in its shares between 2011 and 2020.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Sanders has previously criticized Southwest on Twitter for its use of Twitter. &#8220;corporate greed,&#8221; It is notable that $5.6 BILLION of the $7 BILLION in Covid relief was used by the airline to buy back stock shares for shareholders instead of investing in its internal infrastructure.<\/p>\n<p>The senators gave Jordan until February 2, so that they could respond to their questions.<\/p>\n<p>Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), chair of the Senate Commerce Committee has already indicated that she will hold a hearing about Southwest&#8217;s meltdown.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u2014 CNBC&#8217;s Leslie Josephs contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Correction: Southwest was sent the letter by senators on Thursday. An earlier version of the letter misstated the date.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"WatchLiveRightRail-inline WatchLiveRightRail-container\" id=\"RegularArticle-WatchLiveRightRail-7\" data-test=\"watchLiveRightRail-4\" data-analytics=\"RegularArticle-watchLiveRightRail-7-4\">\n<div class=\"WatchLiveRightRail-contents\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/live-tv\/\" class=\"WatchLiveRightRail-wlButton\">WATCH LIVE<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static-redesign.cnbcfm.com\/dist\/4db8932b7ac3e84e3f64.svg\" class=\"WatchLiveRightRail-logo\" alt=\"logo\"   style=\"display:none\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/live-tv\/\" class=\"WatchLiveRightRail-wlButtonMobile\">WATCH THE APP<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"PageBuilder-col-9 PageBuilder-col PageBuilder-article\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"PageBuilder-col-12 PageBuilder-col PageBuilder-article\">\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Southwest CEO Bob Jordan was contacted by fifteen senators to request answers regarding the airline&#8217;s year end meltdown that left thousands homeless during the holiday season. The senators gave Jordan until February 2nd to respond. Southwest is still addressing reimbursement requests from affected customers. They expect disruptions to cause significant losses in their fourth quarter. &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1899569,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[547],"tags":[6815,5458,3850,6922,3933,5888,3688,3819,3740,7374],"class_list":["post-1805420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-bongino-report","tag-answers","tag-bongino","tag-ceo","tag-christmas","tag-dems","tag-meltdown","tag-push","tag-report","tag-senate","tag-southwest"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1805420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1805420"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1805420\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1899569"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1805420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1805420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1805420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}