Southwest Airlines expects to normalize operations this Friday
U.S. carrier Southwest Airlines expects to return to near-normal operations tomorrow, Friday, after a spate of cancellations on New Year’s Eve that is being investigated by Joe Biden’s administration.
As of Thursday, nearly 2,400 flights operated by the low-cost airline were canceled.
However, the Dallas, Texas-based carrier has only 39 cancellations scheduled for Friday, according to a tally by the FlightAware portal.
“We plan to return to normal operations on Friday, December 30 with minimal disruptions,” the company said in a statement.
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In the message, Southwest urged its customers to fill out a form on its website to be reimbursed for flights, meals and hotels resulting from the cancellations.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Thursday lashed out at Southwest’s “unacceptable behavior” and reminded Southwest that other airlines have already recovered from the ravages of the winter storm.
“One week after the storm hit, all but one airline has recovered,” the official noted on social media.
As a result, he explained, Southwest is already “being investigated” and assured that the government is making the airline comply with its “customer service obligations.”
Southwest, which has canceled more than 13,000 flights over the past week, attributes its collapse to hundreds of pilots and cabin crew being rendered inoperative by the storm.
The company’s chief commercial officer, Ryan Green, apologized on Wednesday night in a video for the disruption being suffered by its customers and promised to work “day and night” to resolve the chaos, reported EFE.
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