![]() ![]() ![]() “The airlines are going to lobby hard to have as little regulation as possible, but with each passing meltdown it becomes more apparent that real change is needed,” said John Breyault, vice president of public policy at the National Consumers League.For an organization to plan and execute its competitive strategy, it needs to understand its market and competitors. Several consumer groups are urging Congress to let state officials and private parties sue airlines to enforce those laws - an effort that has been unsuccessful so far. The Transportation Department has the burden of enforcing consumer-protection laws aimed at protecting airline travelers. The Biden administration fined Frontier Airlines and several foreign carriers last year for not quickly paying refunds to travelers whose flights were canceled during the early months of the pandemic, but advocates were disappointed that none of the four largest U.S. They viewed the Trump administration as a low point, with few enforcement actions taken against airlines even in the face of record consumer complaints. He said it was baffling why Southwest had not improved its crew-scheduling technology after it had failed during previous disruptions in the summer and fall of 2021.īuttigieg has said repeatedly that his department is watching Southwest closely and will hold it accountable to treat customers fairly.Ĭonsumer groups have given mixed grades to the Transportation Department’s oversight of airlines. “This problem (of flight disruptions) is hardly limited to Southwest, it’s hardly the first meltdown in airline travel, and it’s hardly unforeseeable,” Blumenthal said. Blumenthal said witnesses should include executives from Southwest and other airlines. The Senate Commerce Committee said this week it will hold hearings on the Southwest meltdown. “The Southwest debacle creates a moment when the forces in favor of this kind of consumer-protection measure could prevail,” he said in an interview. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said Wednesday that he will re-introduce a “passenger bill of rights,” which failed to become law in the last Congress. The debacle has also focused attention on Southwest among lawmakers in Congress. Jordan said Southwest has good technology, but he said the airline will re-examine IT priorities once it better understands how the December failure unfolded. Now, he added, Southwest must make good on vows to improve its technology, “because you don’t want to equate low-cost with low-tech.” “They have to do something to win back those customers,” Yu said. “Book-away typically has a short half-life, perhaps as little as a month, given it appears from many accounts that Southwest is being very generous reimbursing not only flight but other out-of-pocket costs” and is serious about fixing the technological shortcomings that made the crisis worse, said Robert Mann, an airline consultant in New York. Southwest hopes that refunds, reimbursements and loyalty points will persuade people not to switch to other airlines, known in the industry as “booking away.” She said she plans to go back to flying on American Airlines even if it costs more. It’s just not worth the hassle that I went through,” Zanin said. “It would take a lot for the airline to prove to me that they can fix whatever technology they use to get flight crews and planes where they need to go. ![]() Even if she eventually gets the money, it may not be enough for her to try Southwest again. He expressed optimism but offered few specifics about avoiding a repeat meltdown.ĭanielle Zanin is still waiting to hear whether Southwest will cover the $1,995.36 that she spent during a four-day odyssey getting her family of four home to Illinois after their flight was canceled in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Jordan said in a brief interview that Southwest is still studying what went wrong, and he doesn’t want to make changes in technology until that review is done. It took the airline eight days to recover. 22 with a winter storm, and snowballed when Southwest’s ancient crew-scheduling technology was overwhelmed, leaving crews and planes out of position to operate flights. The airline has also returned most lost bags to their owners, and hired an outside firm to sift through requests for reimbursement of things like hotels and meals that stranded passengers paid out of their own pockets, he said. DALLAS (AP) - With its flights running on a roughly normal schedule, Southwest Airlines is now turning its attention to repairing its damaged reputation after it canceled 15,000 flights around Christmas and left holiday travelers stranded.ĬEO Robert Jordan said Thursday that Southwest has processed about 75% of the refund requests it has received. ![]()
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