Southwest Cancellations At DC Airports Continue As Regulators Demand Answers

WASHINGTON, DC — Passengers booked on Southwest Airlines at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Washington Dulles International Airport are still waiting for relief as the airline finds itself under growing scrutiny, with U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg referring to the airline’s failures as a complete meltdown of the system.

Out of the 2,770 cancellations already made for Wednesday flights within, into or out of the United States as of 9 a.m. on Wednesday, 2,507 of them were operated by Southwest, according to flight tracking website FlightAware.

A total of 70 flights have been canceled into or out of Reagan National Airport on Wednesday, with 64 of them being Southwest flights, according to FlightAware.

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Dulles Airport is reporting seven cancellations for Thursday, and all of them are Southwest, which operates only a few daily flights out of the airport.

At Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, a major hub for Southwest, 203 out of the 205 canceled flights at the airport on Wednesday are operated by Southwest.

Southwest has canceled more than 15,700 flights since winter weather began disrupting air travel on Dec. 22, a figure that includes more than 2,300 flights already canceled for Thursday, Dec. 29.

Other U.S. airlines have since largely recovered from the storm disruptions.

Southwest plans fewer flights over the next several days to reposition crew and planes, Southwest Airlines CEO Bob Jordan said in a video released by the airline late Tuesday. “We’re optimistic to be back on track before next week,” Jordan said.

A Southwest spokesman told the Washington Post that tools that match flight attendants with planes were “struggling” in the wake of the recent winter storm. The spokesman denied that the airline is understaffed, reiterating that its scheduling tools were having problems keeping up.

Lyn Montgomery, president of TWU Local 556, a union that represents about 18,000 Southwest flight attendants, blamed the problems on outdated scheduling technology. Flight crews often had to be notified manually about flight changes, a process that sometimes involved flight attendants waiting on hold for hours to speak to workers who handle scheduling, Montgomery told the Washington Post.

One family traveling south with five children was thankful they got tablets for Christmas to keep them occupied after their Southwest flight was canceled.

“Hoping that we can get a flight, otherwise we’re looking at possibly renting a car tomorrow. But yeah, everything’s been booked. Even car rentals are booked,” Holly Abotossaway told NBC Washington.

Passengers said they have waited six hours or more daily at the airport in hopes they can catch a flight or find their baggage.

Buttigieg spoke to Jordan on Tuesday about the thousands of flights that have been canceled this week. “Their system really has completely melted down,” Buttigieg told CNN.

“I made clear that our department will be holding them accountable for their responsibilities to customers, both to get them through this situation and to make sure that this can’t happen again," the secretary said.

Buttigieg said the Transportation Department is prepared to pursue fines against Southwest Airlines if there is evidence that the company has failed to meet its legal obligations.

"As travelers look to rebook due to Southwest's cancellations, other airlines should cap fares on these routes to help people who need to get home," Buttigieg said in a statement Tuesday. "I'm encouraged to see several airlines have now committed to this step — all of them should."

U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA), chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, on Tuesday said her committee plans to look into the causes of the meltdown and noted that Southwest’s problems over the past several days "go beyond weather."

“Many airlines fail to adequately communicate with consumers during flight cancellations,” Cantwell said in a statement. “Consumers deserve strong protections, including an updated consumer refund rule.”