Southwest Airlines promised to reimburse passengers for expenses such as hotels and car rentals in addition to refunding tickets after it canceled thousands of flights due to a massive winter storm.
WASHINGTON -Southwest Airlines promised to reimburse passengers for expenses such as hotels and car rentals in addition to refunding tickets after it canceled thousands of flights due to a massive winter storm and said there would be a still-undetermined hit to its earnings.
Company executives on the call declined to estimate the number of travelers affected by the disruptions since Friday. Friday cancellations are expected to drop drastically, with Southwest saying it was "eager to return to a state of normalcy" ahead of the New Year holiday weekend. In a letter to Southwest chief Bob Jordan on Thursday, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg warned that the company would be held accountable if it did not fulfill commitments to customers for "controllable delays and cancellations."
"I cannot imagine that this doesn't drive changes to the plan" to modernize the airline's operations, Jordan said, adding that technology improvements were under way but it was a "large and complicated process."
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