Editorial: Southwest deserves punishment for widespread travel meltdown
Now the question is what should be done to punish the airline and what can prevent such a catastrophe in the future.
Airlines
Articles
Southwest starts on reputation repair after cancellations
With its flights running on a roughly normal schedule, Southwest Airlines is now turning its attention to repairing its damaged reputation after it canceled 15,000 flights around Christmas and left holiday travelers stranded.
Southwest apologizes, gives customers frequent-flier points
Southwest Airlines canceled more than 15,000 flights between Dec. 22 and Dec. 30, according to tracking service FlightAware. The flight disruptions began with a winter storm that swept across the country.
Southwest Airlines schedule returns to relative normalcy
The carrier, which had canceled thousands of flights every day this week after a winter storm last weekend, reported fewer than 40 cancellations early Friday. That was still more than United, American and Delta combined
Southwest’s woes continue with thousands of canceled flights Thursday
The 2,359 flights scrubbed by Southwest Airlines on Thursday represents 96 percent of all domestic cancellations.
Southwest didn’t heed calls to upgrade tech before meltdown, unions say
Southwest Airlines’ overwhelmed technology—a scenario fueled by a punishing winter storm—left it this week facing some of the most difficult days in its half-century history.
Southwest Airlines flight cancellations continue to snowball
Exhausted Southwest Airlines travelers tried finding seats on other airlines or renting cars to get to their destination, but many remained stranded. The airline’s CEO said it could be next week before the flight schedule returns to normal.
Southwest draws regulatory scrutiny as thousands more flights canceled
More than 3,000 U.S. flights were canceled Tuesday among all carriers, with Southwest accounting for more than 2,600 of the total—a problem the airline blamed partly on tools for tracking and creating employee schedules.
Southwest under scrutiny after wave of storm cancellations
The U.S. Department of Transportation called the rate of Southwest cancellations “disproportionate and unacceptable,” and sought to ensure that the Dallas carrier was sticking by its obligations to stranded customers.
Thousands of flights canceled as weather continues to upend holiday travel
According to FlightAware, a website that tracks airline delays and cancellations, 5,409 flights had been canceled Monday as of 4:30 p.m., while more than 16,000 flights had been delayed.
Storm adds uncertainty to strong holiday travel demand
Forecasters predict an onslaught of heavy snow, ice, flooding and even tornadoes from Thursday to Saturday in a broad swath of the country, from the Plains and Midwest to the East Coast.
United places huge order with Boeing to replace aging planes
The massive order—United called it the biggest ever by a U.S. airline for twin-aisle or “widebody” planes—is a bold move for an airline that lost money throughout the pandemic until the middle of this year.
Thanksgiving air travel lagged 2019 despite rebound in flying
Major carriers United Airlines Holdings Inc., Delta Air Lines Inc. and American Airlines Group Inc. said they had relatively smooth operations during the holidays, with only a handful of cancellations.
Thanksgiving travel rush is back with some new habits
Experts say many people will start holiday trips early or return home later than normal because they will spend a few days working remotely — or at least tell the boss they’re working remotely.
Frontier, 5 other airlines to refund more than $600 million
The largest U.S. airlines, which accounted for the bulk of complaints about refunds, avoided fines, and an official said no other U.S. carriers are being investigated for potential fines.
Flying home for holidays likely to cost travelers much more this year
Airline executives say that based on bookings, they expect huge demand for flights over Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s. Travel experts say the best deals for airfares and hotels are already gone.
Airline reaches out to students to build talent pipeline
Indianapolis-based Republic Airways is launching a combination of recruitment, training and retention efforts, including a career fair for middle school, high school and college students.
Airline pilots ramp up pressure in pay talks as air travel booms
On the table are double-digit pay increases and changes to scheduling rules, which would be a boon to pilots but would increase airline costs.
United pilots reject contract offer as they push for raises
The Air Line Pilots Association said Tuesday that 94% of the nearly 10,000 United pilots who took part voted against a tentative agreement that the union and United reached in June.
Largest U.S. airlines rake in big summer profits
Executives at all three big U.S. airlines said they see no indication that consumer concerns about inflation and the economy are hurting ticket sales.