Southwest Airlines

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Southwest Takes Big Hit From DOT for 2022 Holiday Fiasco

Agency levies $140M fine; airline says it's 'grateful to have reached a consumer-friendly settlement'

(Newser) - If you were caught up in Southwest's holiday chaos last year and found yourself at any point muttering, "Someone's got to pay for this," your wish has been granted. The Department of Transportation on Monday announced it's hitting the airline with a $140 million fine,...

Southwest Passenger Climbs Out of Plane, Jumps to Tarmac

The man was taken to a hospital for a mental health evaluation

(Newser) - A Southwest Airlines passenger was hospitalized for evaluation Sunday night after he opened an emergency hatch on an aircraft, climbed out onto the wing, and jumped down onto the tarmac, authorities say. Witnesses say the man ran across the tarmac at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport and tried to...

Mom: Southwest Accused Me of Trafficking My Own Daughter

Mary MacCarthy, who's white, says she and her biracial 10-year-old child were racially profiled

(Newser) - A single mom has sued Southwest, accusing the airline of racial discrimination after a flight attendant suspected she may have been trafficking a child—her own daughter. NBC News reports that Mary MacCarthy, who's white, was traveling with her then-10-year-old daughter, Moira, who's Black, in October 2021 from...

Fellow Passengers Bring Man 'Back to Life'

Emily Raines and Daniel Shifflett, both nurses, save a man with no pulse aboard plane

(Newser) - After a four-day cruise in the Bahamas, Baltimore couple Emily Raines and Daniel Shifflett were eager to get home. So eager, in fact, that they twice tried to switch to an earlier flight out of Fort Lauderdale, where their cruise ship docked around 9am on May 1. Ultimately, they stuck...

White House Is Cracking Down on Airline Cancellations

Airlines would have to reimburse customers for delays that were within their control

(Newser) - The Biden administration is proposing new regulations that would require airlines to compensate passengers and cover their meals and hotels if they are stranded for reasons within the airline's control. As the AP reports, President Biden and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg were unveiling the plan on Monday. It continues...

Epic Plane Outburst Began With 'Shut That Baby Up'

Southwest Airlines passenger forcibly removed by police in Orlando

(Newser) - Orlando police had to escort a Southwest Airlines passenger from a plane on Monday after what USA Today calls an "adult tantrum" over a crying baby. Passenger Mark Grabowski recorded a nearly 4-minute viral video of the outburst as the flight, bound for Fort Lauderdale, was stuck in a...

Here's How America's Major Airlines Rank

WalletHub places Delta at the top of its list

(Newser) - Finding the cheapest flight is often a traveler's priority, but there are other reasons to pick one airline over the other. WalletHub checked out the nine largest US carriers, plus two regional airlines, to see how they ranked on everything from baggage, departures, and safety, to in-flight comfort (think...

Southwest Resumes Flying After Nationwide Grounding

Tech glitch briefly kept planes from flying, but now many flights are delayed

(Newser) - Southwest has resumed flights after all were briefly grounded Tuesday morning because of a tech glitch. Those flying on the airline can expect delays, however: Roughly 40% were behind schedule as of noon, reports USA Today . The company's explanation for the snafu: "Early this morning, a vendor-supplied firewall...

Southwest's Meltdown Doesn't Hurt CEO's Bottom Line

Robert Jordan's compensation for 2022 topped $5M

(Newser) - Southwest Airlines CEO Robert Jordan's compensation nearly doubled last year to $5.3 million after being promoted to the top job during a year that ended with massive flight cancellations that will cost Southwest more than $1 billion. Southwest disclosed in a proxy filed Thursday that the estimated value...

Another Not-Great Run for Southwest
Southwest Cannot
Catch a Break

Southwest Cannot Catch a Break

One engine on fire out of Cuba, and one pretty harrowing flight diverts to Myrtle Beach

(Newser) - Southwest is really having a sub-par time of it lately. The airline that can catch no breaks continued its run of catching no breaks with a pair of incidents in recent days that are keeping its public-relations department hopping:
  • To get the weekend off to a rocking start, a Southwest
...

Woman Dies After a Fall on Southwest Airlines' Jet Bridge

Gaby Assouline was paralyzed from the neck down

(Newser) - In February of last year, Gaby Assouline was boarding a Southwest Airlines flight when her electric wheelchair hit a junction on the jet bridge and flipped over, throwing her from the chair, her family says. Nearly a year later, the 25-year-old is dead. Assouline's family says she landed on...

The Ice Man Groundeth 1K Flights in Texas

Southwest is not having a particularly cheery day again

(Newser) - Winter weather brought ice to Texas and nearby states Tuesday, causing the cancellation of more than 1,300 flights and delaying nearly as many more. Numerous auto collisions were reported in Austin, with at least one fatality. In Travis County, Texas, which includes Austin, police and sheriff’s deputies have...

American, Southwest Post Drastically Different Q4 Stats

American sees a profit of $803M; Southwest takes $220M loss after a chaotic December

(Newser) - American Airlines offered more proof Thursday of the recovery in air travel, posting a better-than-expected profit for the fourth quarter, while Southwest Airlines lost money because of massive flight cancellations last month. Southwest said it also expects another loss in the first quarter, though it added it was encouraged by...

Southwest Offers Passengers 'Goodwill Gesture' After Holiday Chaos

Those affected by delays, cancellations are being given 25K frequent flier points

(Newser) - After chaos over the holidays disrupted travel for more than a million Southwest Airlines passengers, CEO Bob Jordan said "there's just no way almost to apologize enough." On Tuesday, the airline reached out with what it called a "gesture of goodwill"—25,000 frequent flyer...

Southwest CEO: 'No Way to Apologize Enough'

Airline returns to a relatively normal day of flying on Friday

(Newser) - Southwest Airlines returned to a relatively normal flight schedule Friday, as the focus shifts to making things right with more than a million passengers who missed flights during the holidays, and many of whom are still missing luggage. The Dallas carrier, which had canceled thousands of flights every day this...

Southwest Resuming Normal Flight Schedule Friday

After 3 days of chaos

(Newser) - The Southwest travel nightmare might be near an end. The airline plans to operate a full schedule on Friday after canceling roughly two-thirds of its flights over the last three days, reports the Wall Street Journal . That amounts to about 15,000 canceled flights in a busy travel week, with...

United, American Cap Fares to Help Southwest's Stranded

Other airlines also try to accommodate customers left high and dry by thousands of nixed SW flights

(Newser) - Amid travel woes involving Southwest Airlines ' customers this holiday week, two other major airlines are trying to mitigate the mess. CNN Business reports that United Airlines and American Airlines are limiting how much it costs to fly to and from certain cities on their own flights to help the...

Pete Buttigieg Gives Southwest CEO a Warning

Airline could face fines if legal obligations to customers are not met

(Newser) - The Department of Transportation had warned it was looking into Southwest Airlines' massive problems over the last few days, and on Tuesday the department's secretary said he's offered a personal warning to the airline's CEO. "I made clear that our department will be holding them accountable...

Southwest Still Running Only a Third of Flights
A Look at Why Southwest
Is in Such a Mess
the rundown

A Look at Why Southwest Is in Such a Mess

Airline is operating only about a third of its schedule for the coming days

(Newser) - On Monday, Southwest Airlines canceled a staggering 71% of its flights . Tuesday is pretty much the same—and Wednesday and Thursday likely won't be much better. The airline had scrapped about 62% of its flights on Tuesday and plans to keep the cuts in place through at least Thursday,...

Number of Canceled Southwest Airlines Flights Is Pretty Wild

Carrier canceled 71% of its flights Monday

(Newser) - Travelers were dealing with flight delays and cancellations Monday, perhaps not surprising given the combination of holiday travel and the wild weather impacting much of the US. The shocking part? Just how massive a share of the flight cancellations Southwest Airlines accounted for. As CNN and NPR report, flight tracking...

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