Congress is receiving new evidence Thursday of internal chaos at Southwest Airlines over the Christmas holiday meltdown.
As planes stood still at the height of the debacle, crewmembers sat stranded, unable to communicate with their dispatchers and schedulers.
More than 16,700 flights were canceled and 2 million passengers stranded, scuttling holiday plans and leaving mountains of unclaimed baggage nationwide. Southwest CEO Bob Jordan apologized and the airline offered reimbursements for passengers' costs, along with bonus points. The Department of Transportation is investigating, including whether the airline scheduled more flights than it could handle.
"Since 2011, SWA has averaged one major operational failure every 18 months," the testimony said. "Warning signs were ignored. Poor performance was condoned. Excuses were made. Processes atrophied. Core values were forgotten."
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