Southwest Airlines under federal review following 'unacceptable' rate of cancelations, delays

TAMPA, Fla. - Hundreds of lost luggage are still sitting in the Southwest Airlines area of the Tampa International Airport. The paths between each row of suitcases resemble a maze.

It's enough to puzzle the U.S. Department of Transportation – and launch a federal review of the airline's handling of cancelations and delays following the poorly timed winter storm during the holiday travel season.

The airline canceled 2,886 flights on Monday, or 70% of scheduled flights, amid a winter storm impacting portions of the country, according to FlightAware. At one point on Monday, the airline canceled roughly 300 flights within one half-hour period. Every airline has had to cancel or delay flights over the last several days, but Southwest's totals are particularly high.

As the holiday travel rush continues, Southwest Airlines continues canceling flights. It's creating nightmares just ahead of New Year's Day. Southwest delayed 48% of flights on Sunday and 16% on Monday. The travel headaches aren’t expected to ease up any time soon, as 60% of Tuesday's flights were already canceled the night before, and flights for Wednesday are already canceled as well.

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Now, U.S. DOT officials are criticizing Southwest, saying the rate of canceled flights is "unacceptable."

"USDOT is concerned by Southwest’s unacceptable rate of cancellations and delays & reports of lack of prompt customer service. the department will examine whether cancellations were controllable and if southwest is complying with its customer service plan."

At the peak of cancelations on Monday, countless posts on social media showed long lines at Southwest ticket counters. Travelers said they showed up to the airport to discover their flights were canceled with no warning as the airline's system crashed, and their phone lines were down.

Southwest Airlines released a statement Monday, blaming the nationwide winter storm and an outdated system. They said they're working to make things right for those they’ve let down, including employees.

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However, the union representing Southwest flight attendants rejected the claims that the travel meltdown was only because of the winter weather.

Lyn Montgomery, the union’s president, said she and others had been warning leadership at the airline for "a very long time" and that its crew scheduling system was outdated and not adequate for a staffing situation like this.

"Our system got over tasked and the system we have could not handle the number of cancellations, changes, and notifications that needed to go out," she said. "The company will tell you – as they've told us as union leaders over the last few years – that they have put a lot of money into the technology and they've spent years and millions of dollars in strengthening the infrastructure, but we have contended, for some time, that it wasn't enough. It's too slow, so I think there are factors there where the company shouldn't have been dragging its feet when listening to its labor leaders because we have proposed to modernize the way we communicate with rescheduling."

Meanwhile, luggage continues to sit in limbo, unclaimed at airports across the nation. Their customer service policy states that, if luggage is lost or missing, they will work to get it to you within 24 hours, however it could take days before many passengers see their bags.

With a mass of delays and cancellations, it can be difficult to know your rights as a traveler and what you are entitle to for compensation.
the dot's office of aviation consumer protection has a website that can help navigate and understand what airlines should provide: https://www.transportation.gov/airconsumer