![]() ![]() “Will it be enough? Time will tell … Planning is important, but ultimately, execution matters.” Mann & Company and former airline executive. “This began with chronic ground support personnel shortages and excessive reliance on mandatory overtime, then cascaded into the flight and crew scheduling operations,”said Bob Mann, an adviser at R.W. ![]() One only has to look to Delta Air Lines to see a carrier that has made operational reliability a company-wide ethos. More winter weather preparedness will undoubtedly help the carrier, but the preventing operational distress takes more than just equipment, and the support of the entire airline. airline but only Southwest was unable to recover. in the days before Christmas, affected operations at every U.S. Elliott, which stretched across the entire continental U.S. Whether the action items outlined are enough to avoid future meltdowns is unclear. The airports are four of the eight busiest by departures in Southwest’s system Denver is its busiest with up to 270 daily departures, according to Diio by Cirium schedules. Investments will be focused at the Chicago Midway, Dallas Love Field, Denver, and Nashville airports. Southwest will acquire more deicing trucks, increase its stocks of deicing fluid, and secure more deicing “pads” - airport parking spots away from the terminal where planes can be deiced - in preparation for future storms. The report affirms Watterson’s statements with most of its action items centered on improved winter weather operations. in the days before Christmas, and precipitated Southwest’s meltdown. Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee hearing in February, Southwest Chief Commercial Officer Andrew Watterson acknowledged that the airline had “messed up.” He described the carrier’s winter-weather preparedness as “insufficient” ahead of Winter Storm Elliott that affected a large swath of the U.S. ![]() It will likely accrue additional costs related to the event throughout the year, with analysts warning that some travelers could book away from the carrier in the first and second quarters.Īt a U.S. The cancellations, during one of the busiest travel periods of the calendar in the U.S., cost Southwest $850 million in the fourth-quarter alone and pushed it to a loss for the quarter - a period when most other airlines made money. A timeline of Southwest’s holidays 2022 meltdown and recovery. In the report, Southwest said it had refunded, reimbursed, and returned lost luggage to more than 99 percent of travelers affected by the holiday meltdown. The situation generated outrage among the public and officials alike, with even President Biden tweeting that the airline would be held “accountable” for the situation. The report is the latest on what occurred when the airline cancelled more than 17,000 flights between Christmas and New Years and disrupted the trips of tens-of-thousands of travelers. “With this plan in motion, we can move forward and focus on continuing to deliver the reliable operation, high-quality customer service, and legendary hospitality that Southwest is famously known for,” CEO Bob Jordan said in an email Friday to loyalty plan members. Of 13 specific actions, the airline has only completed three with the balance set to be done before the end of the year. Investments are focused in three areas: Winter operational readiness, technology, and internal collaboration. In a new report by the Dallas-based carrier’s board and independent advisor Oliver Wyman, Southwest outlined three broad areas where it is making improvements to avoid a repeat of last Christmas and New Year’s fiasco. Southwest Airlines will do everything from acquiring more deicing trucks in Chicago and Denver, to upgrading its internal technology and communications systems by this winter to avoid a repeat of its massive holiday flight meltdown. ![]()
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