Three U.S. airlines on Wednesday warned of higher fuel costs in the third quarter due to a jump in crude prices, adding to pressures the industry faces from expensive labor contracts.
25.08.2023 - 14:32 / skift.com
The U.S. Transportation Department (USDOT) said late on Monday it would examine the large number of Southwest Airlines cancelled and delayed flights in recent days to determine if they were in the airline’s control, calling them “unacceptable.”
Southwest canceled 2,886 flights on Monday, or 70 percent of scheduled flights, after cancelling 48 percent on Sunday, according to flight tracking website FlightAware. It has also already canceled 60 percent, or more than 2,400, of its planned Tuesday flights.
“USDOT is concerned by Southwest Airlines’ disproportionate and unacceptable rate of cancellations and delays as well as the failure to properly support customers experiencing a cancellation or delay,” the department said.
It said it would “closely examine whether cancellations were controllable and whether Southwest is complying with its customer service plan as well as all other pertinent DOT rules.”
Southwest delayed 48 percent of flights on Sunday and 16 percent on Monday.
Southwest declined to comment late on Monday on the USDOT statement but pointed to a statement it issued earlier offering “heartfelt apologies” and said “with consecutive days of extreme winter weather across our network behind us, continuing challenges are impacting our customers and employees in a significant way that is unacceptable.”
The airline added it was working “to urgently address wide-scale disruption by rebalancing the airline and repositioning crews and our fleet ultimately to best serve all who plan to travel with us.”
Other major U.S. airlines suffered significant cancellations in recent days but not nearly at as high rates as Southwest and they have now largely recovered.
USDOT on Monday pointed to Southwest Airlines customer service plan, which notes the airline will provide meal or hotel vouchers for extended delays that are due to issues within the airline’s control but not for unforeseen issues like weather.
In August, major U.S. airlines including Southwest told USDOT they would commit to provide meals for customers delayed by three hours and hotel rooms for stranded passengers if prompted by issues under the airlines’ control.
Many airlines have previously offered vouchers or hotel rooms for delays they caused but did not spell out all commitments in customer service plans.
Three U.S. airlines on Wednesday warned of higher fuel costs in the third quarter due to a jump in crude prices, adding to pressures the industry faces from expensive labor contracts.
There are problems at two of the nation’s top five airlines. Labor problems.
More than 890 flights have been canceled and more than 1,200 are delayed as Hurricane Idalia made landfall on Florida’s northwest coast as a Category 3 hurricane early Wednesday morning.
Southwest Airlines recently made changes to its pre-flight boarding policies by limiting the options for passengers to purchase a better spot in line for an extra fee.
The deadly wildfires on the island of Maui are likely to affect visitor — and airline — demand to the island for the “foreseeable future,” analysts at T.D. Cowen said Friday.
United Airlines is taking a subtle dig at rival Southwest Airlines’ massive number of holiday season cancellations in an ad it’s airing during the Super Bowl on Sunday.
Two months. That’s how long Southwest Airlines expects there to be an impact on bookings from its massive holiday meltdown that disrupted millions of travelers over Christmas and New Years.
Southwest Airlines has put an initial number to the losses incurred during its holiday meltdown: a $725-825 million hit to its pre-tax income in the fourth quarter. That number includes both $400-425 million in lost revenue and added costs, for example reimbursing people for alternative travel costs.
Southwest Airlines will pay a dividend to its shareholders of record as of January 10, 2023. This may not seem like a notable move for a carrier that has paid dividends for most of 50-plus year existence but it is: Southwest will be the first U.S. airline to resume shareholder returns since the pandemic.
Good morning from Skift. It’s Tuesday, January 3, and here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.
Southwest Airlines was up and running on a normal schedule on Friday after a massive winter storm crippled operations this week and exposed problems at the low-cost carrier.
Southwest Airlines capped off its 2022 with the unenviable distinction of cancelling more than 15,000 flights in total during the week of Christmas, the result of a system failure caused by several issues that were exacerbated by a nationwide winter storm.