Southwest Airlines on Thursday faced harsh criticism from U.S. senators at a hearing investigating the airline's meltdown that disrupted travel plans for 2 million customers, with one lawmaker calling the situation an 'unmitigated disaster.'
He acknowledged that the airline made mistakes and that technology issues were a factor. He said the carrier is introducing an updated crew scheduling system on Friday to address a specific failure during the meltdown.
"Let me be clear: we messed up." After detailing what went wrong, he added that "none of this is an excuse." He admitted: "There were technology issues during the disruption -- we don't dispute that." Commerce Committee chair Maria Cantwell said, "We're always going to have these weather events and some of us believe they're going to become more severe. But what we want is to have a system that is ready to address that."
Cantwell said Southwest Chief Executive Officer Bob Jordan, who had been invited to the hearing, "didn't want to show up." Southwest said the hearing conflicted with other commitments, including an employee rally in Baltimore on Wednesday. The meltdown caused the cancellation of almost 17,000 flights and is estimated to have cost the airline more than $1 billion. It has also prompted a
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Southwest Airlines’ December meltdown came after years of tech failuresDecember’s 16,700 cancellation stretch was the worst operational breakdown in company history, but not the first.
Read more »
Why service dog Kaya’s final flight on Dallas’ Southwest Airlines went viralKaya was greeted by cheering Southwest Airlines crew members and passengers when she deboarded her flight home to Dallas on Feb. 2.
Read more »
Southwest Airlines exec offers up explanation for Christmas meltdownChief operating officer Andrew Watterson said it 'struggled to keep the operation moving' at 'key airports.'
Read more »
Southwest Airlines exec to Senate: 'We messed up' in holiday meltdownThe airline's problems set off an intense round of scrutiny from both fliers and the federal government.
Read more »
Southwest Airlines executives to be grilled on Capitol Hill after series of holiday flight cancellationsCongress is expected to receive new evidence Thursday of what was considered to be “internal chaos” with Southwest Airlines over the Christmas holiday meltdown and cancellations, CNN reported. swairlines southwest kprc2 click2houston travel
Read more »