Summoned before the US Senate Committee on Transportation to explain the major disruptions in December, the airline Southwest has chosen to be represented by its director of operations Andrew Watterson (AFP / Jim WATSON)
Why was it so difficult to reach customer service? Why compensate in loyalty points and not in cash? Why didn’t you listen to the pilots’ warnings? US senators strongly criticized Southwest on Thursday for massive disruptions in late December.
The airline had to cancel a total of 16,700 flights between December 21 and 31.
Like its competitors, it initially suffered from a wave of cold and snow that hampered its operations in several parts of the country. But the problems accumulated and the company struggled to return to a normal situation, which affected a total of around two million passengers.
The Senate Committee in charge of Transport had summoned the company for explanations.
Its president Maria Cantwell began by deploring the absence of the general manager of Southwest, the company having chosen to be represented by its director of operations Andrew Watterson.
“We mismanaged”, immediately recognized the latter, presenting his “sincere and humble apologies”.
The problem started with a lack of equipment to thaw facilities, including at Denver and Chicago airports that serve as bases for many crew members, he said.
The cancellation of the first flights at these two airports then led to a disorganization of the distribution of crews, the computer system managing this aspect being unable to cope with the volumes and the speed of the changes required.
The group plans to increase its spending on thawing equipment and upgrading its computer systems.
But “you had been warned” by the pilots of some of the problems that led to the aerial chaos, retorted Senator Ed Markey, stressing that “this mismanagement (had) caused real suffering and indisputable damage for the families”.
Like several of his colleagues, he mentioned passengers who had missed family reunions, medical care or professional appointments. A woman couldn’t make it to her own wedding in time.
Southwest should commit to providing customers, in addition to ticket and fee refunds, with cash compensation for these hardships in lieu of loyalty points, he argued. A suggestion rejected by Mr. Watterson.
Senator Tammy Duckworth for her part regretted that Southwest, in the event of a similar situation in the future, refuses to guarantee that passengers on canceled flights can reach a real person “within a reasonable time”.
The episode cost the company around $800 million.
© 2023 AFP
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