Southwest Airlines has been hit with a record-setting $140 million fine for pretty much shitting its pants during the 2022 holiday travel season. The civil penalty leveraged against Southwest is 30 times larger than any Department of Transportation airline fine in history, according to a statement from the DOT.
The DOT also said it would require Southwest to start a $90 million program that’ll issue a $75 flight credit to any passenger whose arrival is delayed more than 3 hours when it’s the airline’s fault — that includes mechanical issues.
“Today’s action sets a new precedent and sends a clear message: if airlines fail their passengers, we will use the full extent of our authority to hold them accountable,” Pete Buttigieg, U.S. Transportation Secretary, said in the statement.
For those who don’t remember, operational failures on the part of Southwest and a huge winter storm led to about 16,900 flights being canceled over the Christmas holiday in 2022. It led to about two million passengers being stranded.
The $140 million fine adds to the nearly $600 million in refunds and reimbursements the airline has previously handed out because of the snafu. Officials say they’re going to use the majority of the fine to compensate customers impacted by future Southwest flight cancelations and other delays, which we know are coming. It is Southwest, after all.
Transportation officials said their investigation of the travel nightmare “examining tens of thousands of pages documents, conducting several multi-day, in-person audits and site visits at Southwest’s headquarters, reviewing thousands of consumer complaints, and consulting with various third parties, such as airports.”
It found that the airline violated consumer protection laws on providing customer service, prompt flight-status notifications and prompt refunds, according to the DOT release.
“Taking care of passengers is not just the right thing to do — it’s required, and this penalty should put all airlines on notice to take every step possible to ensure a meltdown like this never happens again,” Mayor Pete said.
In a press release, Southwest said it has “learned from the event, and now can shift its entire focus to the future.”
“We have spent the past year acutely focused on efforts to enhance the Customer Experience with significant investments and initiatives that accelerate operational resiliency, enhance cross-team collaboration and bolster overall preparedness for winter operations,” Bob Jordan, Southwest Airlines President and Chief Executive Officer said in a statement.