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Southwest Airlines: ‘We messed up’
Southwest Airlines was grilled on Capitol Hill with lawmakers demanding answers over the Christmas flight cancellation meltdown.
Southwest’s troubles caused 16,000 flight cancellations, leaving tens of thousands of customers stranded.
During the committee hearing, COO Andrew Watterson acknowledged the airline ‘messed up.’
U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth called it ‘appalling; while Sen. Ted Cruz said it was ‘an epic screw up.’
Pilot union chief at Southwest Airlines, Captain Casey Murray, said it was a failure from top to bottom,’
“The pilots have been sounding the alarm bells for over a decade,” he said.
Southwest crew have said their roster scheduling system was not fit for purpose.
The software was overwhelmed by the initial flight cancellations’
Watterson said Southwest is spending $1.3 billion to upgrade tech which includes an updated crew scheduling system.
Southwest says it has paid nearly all of its customers’ claims for flight cancellation reimbursements and compensation for hotel stays and other expenses.
Southwest has said the days-long problems cost it more than $800 million.
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