Bob Jordan, CEO of Southwest Airlines, publicly apologized to customers and announced that the company will reimburse passengers who were affected by the flight cancellations.
According to the statements, the company created a website for its passengers to submit requests for reimbursement and refunds for hotel reservations, meals, car rentals, as well as tickets booked through alternative airlines.
Jordan assured that cases with other costs will be evaluated on an individual basis to determine solutions.
"Our desire is to go above and beyond. We always take care of our customers, that's our 51-year history here at Southwest Airlines," he said.
KEEP THOSE RECEIPTS | Here's what @SouthwestAir CEO Bob Jordan is telling ABC News about the reimbursement of expenses (hotel, meals, alternate travel), after the flight cancellation fiasco pic.twitter.com/wZANy3MDUs
— Isabel Rosales (@RosalesReport) December 30, 2022
The executive also took advantage of the opportunity to apologize for the problems the airline has caused and acknowledged that at this point apologies are not enough for the impact it caused with its delays and cancellations in the midst of a major holiday travel season.
It should be noted that Southwest canceled approximately 15,800 flights since December 22, following the winter storm, which hit two of its major hubs hard: Denver International Airport and Chicago Midway.
According to CNN last Tuesday alone, the airline accounted for more than 90% of flight cancellations in the country after canceling 2,500 flights. Spirit Airlines, followed in second place with 75 cancellations.
The large difference was apparently due to a combination of planning problems and bad luck due to the timing of the storm.
However, the Department of Transportation (USDOT) announced that it is still investigating the reason for so many interruptions to its customers.
Southwest Airlines said it will reimburse passengers for expenses incurred following flight cancellations as a result of the massive winter storm in the U.S. https://t.co/OSb15t0EJn pic.twitter.com/TnNF5mUAT0
— Reuters (@Reuters) December 30, 2022
"USDOT is concerned about Southwest's unacceptable rate of cancellations and delays and reports of a lack of prompt customer service," it reported.
In addition, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said he will be watching to make sure the airline fulfills its promise to reimburse passengers and, if it fails to do so, could impose "tens of thousands of dollars" per violation in fines.
All indications show that Southwest intends to fulfill its duty to its customers and even go further, or at least this is what Buttigieg stated.
"The airline told me they were going to go above and beyond what was required of them," he said.
