Congress is hearing today about the December meltdown at Southwest Airlines.
A Southwest executive said in prepared testimony Thursday, Feb. 9, 2023 that the airline is taking steps to avoid a repeat of the breakdown that led to nearly 17,000 canceled flights over the December holidays.
“We know this won’t be the last snowstorm to hit this country. So let’s figure why Southwest’s operations collapsed and what needs to change so this never happens again on Southwest or any other airline," said the committee chair, Maria Cantwell, D-Wash. By Dec. 24, as the storm moved east, Southwest's ability to reschedule crews was in tatters, and pilots and flight attendants were stranded just like the passengers. It took another week for the airline to recover.
Murray suggested that the company was more focused on growth — adding 18 new cities during the pandemic.
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