BOSTON (WHDH) - Southwest Airlines CEO Bob Jordan has apologized for this week’s cancellation chaos following a massive winter storm that swept across the country just before Christmas.
Jordan said the airline’s operational meltdown is due to winter storm delays, outdated systems, and aggressive flight scheduling during the holiday season and they are doing everything in their power to get things back to normal.
“I want everyone who is dealing with the problems we’ve been facing, whether you haven’t been able to get to where you need to go or you’re one of our heroic Employees caught up in a massive effort to stabilize the airline, to know is that we’re doing everything we can to return to a normal operation,” Jordan said.
“And please also hear that I’m truly sorry,” he added.
Jordan said the airline plans to fly a reduced schedule in order to reposition its employees and planes and he hopes things will be back on track before next week.
US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said he will hold Southwest accountable for the travel mess he says the airline created.
“From what I can tell, Southwest is unable to locate even where their own crews are, let alone their own passengers, let alone baggage,” he said, noting that every other major airline is getting back on track.
Buttigieg added that his department is prepared to issue fines if it determines Southwest did not meet its legal obligations to passengers. He also said the airline needs to do more to support its customers by offering refund options and food and hotel vouchers.
“Passengers shouldn’t have to request that, they need to be proactively offering that,” Buttigieg said.
As of 5:30 a.m. Wednesday, 41 flights are cancelled at Logan Airport and 70 percent of those are Southwest flights.
Travelers impacted by the Southwest cancellations may request a refund or credit with the airline by filling out a request on the Southwest Travel Disruption page or by calling 1-800-435-9792. Refunds are only issued for unused tickets.
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