The Southwest Airlines chief executive has apologized for the holiday season disruptions, which have seen more than 15,000 flights across the United States canceled, passengers stranded and many struggling to locate their luggage.
“I’m very sorry,” Bob Jordan told ABC News on Friday morning. “You just can’t apologize enough.”
On Friday, the Dallas-based airline recorded just 41 canceled flights, down from nearly 2,400 the previous day. While the number of cancellations was still higher than United, American and Delta combined, it was progress after one of the most chaotic weeks for any single airline in aviation history. Jordan said Southwest is having a “great operation” with more than 3,900 flights on the schedule.
Asked about the reason for the “meltdown” that began amid a massive winter storm last week, Jordan said the “unprecedented” weather problems had hurt all airlines.
Pressed further, he said, “The storm had an impact, but we had an impact beyond the storm.”
Responding to claims, particularly from the flight attendants’ union, that the near-collapse was the result of outdated technology and ignoring repeated calls for change, Jordan said the company was “investing in our operations.” He has not acknowledged the issuance of advance warnings by employees.
“We will learn lessons from this and we will continue to invest,” he said.
Jordan also said Southwest will reimburse passengers for canceled flights, as well as hotel room, rental car, or other flight expenses. Many frustrated passengers have faced exorbitant fares from other airlines as they struggle to salvage their travel plans.
US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg said Southwest is being investigated over the debacle and is focusing on outdated planning technology.
Jordan told ABC he was “even” with Buttigieg, who called the disruptions “unacceptable” in a letter to Jordan late Thursday.
“While weather can disrupt flight schedules, Southwest’s thousands of cancellations over the past few days were not due to weather,” the Secretary of Transportation wrote. “Other airlines that experienced weather-related cancellations and delays due to the winter storm recovered relatively quickly, unlike Southwest.”
On ABC, Jordan was asked about calls for his resignation from him and other executives. The chief executive, who has been in office for less than a year, deflected the question.
He said: “There will be a lot of great lessons from this on what we can do to ensure this doesn’t happen again.”
He added: “This has impacted so many people, so many customers, over the holidays. Our employees are affected. And I’m very sorry. We just can’t apologize enough because we love our customers, we love our employees and we’ve really impacted their plans.”
Southwest executives have said it could take up to a week for all passengers to be connected to their destinations.
The aviation industry is still recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic. Jordan said the holiday crisis will “certainly” hit Southwest when it reports fourth-quarter results in late January. Stocks, which fell 8% this week, appeared to stabilize on Friday.
Buttigieg has also come under scrutiny for allegedly ignoring warning signs about airlines’ poor record with consumers.
Ro Khanna, a progressive Democratic congressman from California, has highlighted a letter from Bernie Sanders to Buttigieg in June in which the Vermont senator outlined problems facing the airline industry, including flight delays, cancellations and high fares.
Sanders also called for tough fines and provisions to promptly reimburse passengers.