By David Shepardson
(Reuters) -The U.S. Transportation Department told Southwest Airlines a civil fine is warranted over the airline’s December meltdown that led to 16,700 flight cancellations and the disruption of 2 million passengers’ flights.
Southwest said in a securities filing that the department notified it Friday that the government determined the airline “had failed to provide adequate customer service assistance, prompt flight status notifications, and proper and prompt refunds and that the assessment of a civil penalty is warranted.”
The Transportation Department said the filing was accurate but declined to comment further.
In December, Southwest Airlines suffered an operational meltdown after bad weather that also affected peers was compounded by its legacy scheduling system, costing it more than $1 billion.
Southwest said it would not comment further as talks with the Transportation Department “are ongoing and part of a process we’re respecting by withholding specific comment until we reach a resolution.”
The airline added it has “been discussing widely our multi-faceted effort and significant investment to improve the resiliency of how we prepare and operate in irregular conditions.”
Last month, Southwest CEO Robert Jordan said the airline was better prepared to handle upcoming winter weather thanks to the low-cost carrier’s “big investments” in improving de-icing capacity and staffing.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
