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☆ Southwest Airlines reshuffles senior management roles
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Southwest customers visit the help desk after U.S. airlines, led by Southwest, canceled thousands of flights due to a massive winter storm which swept over much of the country before and during the Christmas holiday weekend, at Dallas Love Field Airport in Dallas, Texas, U.S., December 28, 2022. The Texas-based carrier promoted vice president of network planning, Adam Decaire, to senior vice president of network planning and network operations control (NOC), effective immediately. "This change creates a tighter feedback loop between schedule design and schedule execution while adding resiliency and reliability to the network," the carrier said. The carrier on Monday announced key leadership changes in departments including marketing & customer experience, culture & communications, legal-corporate & transactions and sales. Reporting by Aishwarya Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju SamuelOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Southwest’s December Meltdown Could Cost Up to $825 Million
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-07 | by ( Alison Sider | Will Feuer | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Southwest Airlines Co. said Friday that it expects its holiday meltdown to wipe out fourth-quarter profits in what has become one of the costliest disruptions the industry has seen in years. The company estimates that the cancellation of more than 16,700 flights from Dec. 21 through Dec. 31 will reduce its pretax income by $725 million to $825 million in the fourth quarter, resulting in a loss for the period. That includes between $400 million and $425 million in lost revenue, as well as an additional hit from reimbursements to affected travelers, premium pay for employees and other related costs.

☆ Southwest’s December Meltdown to Cause Quarterly Loss
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Alison Sider | Will Feuer | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Southwest Airlines Co. expects to book a fourth quarter loss after a winter storm triggered an operational meltdown that resulted in thousands of flight cancellations over the busy holiday period. The company estimates that the cancellations will result in a negative impact of $725 million to $825 million on a pretax basis for the fourth quarter. That includes between $400 million and $425 million in lost revenue, as well as an additional hit from reimbursements to affected travelers, premium pay for employees and other related costs.

☆ Southwest Airlines expects to post loss after mass cancellations
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 6 (Reuters) - Southwest Airlines Co (LUV.N) on Friday revised its fourth quarter forecast to net loss from "strong profit" after a technological meltdown forced it to cancel thousands of flights around Christmas and New Year's Eve. Southwest Airlines led flight cancellations across carriers during the last two weeks of December, as a massive winter storm swept across the eastern part of the United States. The net loss will largely be due to an estimated pre-tax negative impact of $725 million to $825 million, the company said in a regulatory filing. Shares of the company fell about 1% in premarket trade. Reporting by Kannaki Deka and Abhijith Ganapavaram in Bengaluru; Editing by Vinay DwivediOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Smaller raises aid inflation fight
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Jan 6 (Reuters Breakingviews) - All things being equal, strong job growth is a bad sign in the fight against inflation. While employment is rising, wage growth is not. The Fed’s rate-setting committee had forecast an unemployment rate of 3.7% by the end of 2022. San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly said in November that wage growth of 3.5% to 4% would be consistent with the Fed’s 2% inflation target. As long as Americans’ raises stay modest, the country can shed its inflation problem without shedding jobs.

☆ Getting Results—and Money—When Airlines Cancel Flights
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Jacob Passy | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Canceled or delayed flights can cost travelers money. Getting an airline to pay you back for expenses like hotel stays and rental cars isn’t impossible, but it can involve lots of legwork. Many travelers are now learning this the hard way in the wake of the Christmas week meltdown for Southwest Airlines Co. that saw the carrier cancel nearly 16,000 flights.

☆ Southwest Airlines Offers 25,000 Points to Passengers Hit by Travel Meltdown
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( Dawn Gilbertson | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Southwest Airlines Co. on Tuesday began doling out 25,000 frequent-flier points to travelers affected by its holiday meltdown. The bonus miles, which the airline notes are in addition to ticket refunds and reimbursement for expenses, were accompanied by a letter from Southwest Chief Executive Bob Jordan .

☆ Southwest is giving 25,000 frequent flier points worth $300 to passengers impacted by the airline's holiday travel meltdown
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( Jordan Hart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The airline is currently offering affected passengers 25,000 frequent flier points valued at over $300. The offer has caused long wait times for some passengers trying to claim points, reports say. The estimate includes both lost revenue from refunds and reimbursements for expenses like hotels and rental cars, CNBC reported. While Griff reported a 15-minute wait to receive points, another traveler told WSJ he had an estimated wait time of over an hour to redeem the 75,000 points offered to his party of three. In the email, Jordan reminded recipients that Rapid Rewards points don't expire, have no blackout dates, and can be used on Southwest gift cards.

☆ Southwest Says It Maintains Normal Schedule as Airline Processes Bags, Refunds
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Alison Sider | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Southwest Airlines Co. returned to more-normal operations this weekend, contending with some weather challenges as it sought to regain credibility with regulators and travelers following the carrier’s meltdown over the holidays. Southwest restored its full schedule Friday after slashing flying plans much of the week in an effort to regain its footing after the cascade of cancellations. It scrapped just a few dozen flights Saturday and Sunday—less than 1% of what it had scheduled each day, according to FlightAware.

☆ Southwest Airlines is sued for not providing refunds after meltdown
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Jonathan Stempel | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Shelby Tauber/File PhotoNEW YORK, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Southwest Airlines (LUV.N) has been sued by a passenger who said it failed to provide refunds to passengers left stranded when an operational meltdown led the carrier to cancel more than 15,000 flights late last month. Capdeville, a Marrero, Louisiana resident, is seeking damages for passengers on Southwest flights canceled since Dec. 24, and who did not receive refunds or expense reimbursements. The meltdown at Dallas-based Southwest has been blamed on staffing shortages and outdated flight scheduling software. The carrier largely restored normal operations on Dec. 30, several days after other airlines had recovered from the storm. The case is Capdeville v Southwest Airlines Co, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana, No.

☆ Southwest Says It Maintains Normal Schedule as It Processes Bags, Refunds
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-02 | by ( Alison Sider | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Southwest Airlines says the carrier resumed normal operations over the weekend after a meltdown that affected thousands of travelers during the holidays. Southwest Airlines Co. returned to more normal operations this weekend, contending with some weather challenges as it sought to regain credibility with regulators and travelers following the carrier’s meltdown over the holidays. Southwest restored its full schedule Friday after slashing flying plans much of the week in an effort to regain its footing after the cascade of cancellations. It scrapped just a few dozen flights Saturday and Sunday—less than 1% of what it had scheduled each day, according to FlightAware.

☆ Southwest Meltdown Shows Airlines Need Tighter Software Integration
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-02 | by ( Belle Lin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

Southwest’s software wasn’t designed to solve problems of that scale, Chief Operating Officer Andrew Watterson said Thursday, forcing the airline to revert to manual scheduling. Unlike some large rivals with hub-and-spoke networks, Southwest planes hopscotch from city to city, which may have been another complicating factor. Mr. Alamzad said the most serious IT challenge airlines face stems from the applications developed in silos by vendors or the airlines themselves. Southwest recently completed an upgrade of its new reservation system and had been working through multiyear upgrades to systems used in its operations. Other carriers have given priority to upgrading customer-facing reservations platforms and flier loyalty programs over operations systems, Mr. Alamzad said.

☆ Southwest Airlines Shows Progress in Push to Restore Flights
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( James R. Hagerty | Alison Sider | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Southwest Airlines Co. showed more progress Saturday in its push to regain credibility with regulators and travelers, especially those whose holidays were disrupted by the company’s meltdown over the past week. The Dallas-based carrier had just one Saturday flight cancellation as of midday, according to FlightAware. Overall, more than 70 flights among all airlines flying to, from or within the U.S. had been canceled.

☆ Southwest Attempts to Resume Full Flying Schedule
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Alison Sider | Dawn Gilbertson | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Southwest Airlines Co. seeks to return to normal operations Friday, more than a week after the start of an unprecedented meltdown that stranded passengers and drew fire from regulators. The Dallas-based carrier plans to more than double the size of its operation overnight. The leap from operating 1,600 flights Thursday to the roughly 4,100 Southwest has scheduled for Friday will be a major test of how well the airline has managed to put itself back together again following a winter storm and subsequent operational problems that led it to cancel nearly 16,000 flights.

☆ Southwest Airlines Attempts to Resume Normal Flying Schedule
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Alison Sider | Dawn Gilbertson | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Southwest Airlines Co. seeks to return to normal operations Friday, more than a week after the start of an unprecedented meltdown that stranded passengers and drew fire from regulators. The Dallas-based carrier planned to more than double the size of its operation overnight. The leap from operating 1,600 flights Thursday to the roughly 4,000 it has scheduled for Friday will be a major test of how well Southwest has managed to put itself back together following a winter storm and subsequent operational problems that led it to cancel nearly 16,000 flights.

☆ Companies Spend Record Amounts on Dividends, Despite Looming Downturn
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Mark Maurer | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +7 min

They usually review their cash flow expectations for at least the next 18 months when determining whether or how much to pay in dividends, Mr. Silverblatt said. Of the S&P 500, 373 companies raised dividends in 2022 through Dec. 15, compared with 353 in 2021, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices. Five S&P 500 companies decreased their dividend in 2022 through Dec. 15, compared with four in 2021. It paid $7 billion in cash dividends for the year ended Oct. 30, up 13.2% from the prior-year period. Cash and cash equivalents totaled $505.5 million as of Sept. 30, down from $673 million a year earlier, filings showed.

☆ Southwest Resumes Normal Flight Schedule After Mass Cancellations Stranded Travelers
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Alison Sider | Dawn Gilbertson | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Southwest Airlines Co. worked to return to normal operations Friday, more than a week after the start of an unprecedented meltdown that stranded passengers and drew fire from regulators. The Dallas-based carrier’s leap from operating 1,600 flights Thursday to roughly 4,000 on Friday more than doubled the size of its operation overnight. The expanded schedule represented a major test of how well Southwest has managed to put itself back together following a winter storm and subsequent operational problems that led it to cancel nearly 16,000 flights.

☆ Lawmakers Plan to Scrutinize Southwest Cancellations, Federal Airline Refund Policies
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Katy Stech Ferek | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON—Federal lawmakers have signaled that they will investigate the mass flight cancellations by Southwest Airlines Co., with some Democrats suggesting the Transportation Department should be more aggressive at protecting passengers. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D., Wash.), who leads the Senate’s committee on transportation issues, said in a statement this week that its members will look into what caused the cancellations and how consumers were affected.

☆ Southwest Airlines passengers get stuck in the Nashville airport on Christmas — then threatened with arrest for 'trespassing'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Bethany Biron | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

A police officer at the Nashville International Airport threatened to arrest stranded Southwest Airlines passengers. In a statement, the airport said Southwest Airlines contacted them "asking that a police officer be dispatched to ... escort passengers to the pre-security ticketing counters." In two viral TikTok videos shared Wednesday by Amani Robinson, a police officer is seen on ordering travelers at the Nashville International Airport to "leave nearly 1.5 million times. Southwest Airlines did not immediately respond to Insider's request to comment about the officer's claims. Nashville International Airport did not immediately respond to Insider's request to comment on the status of the police officer, or if any potential disciplinary action was taken.

☆ Some Airlines Have Instituted a Fare Cap, but Don’t Expect a Deal
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Jacob Passy | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Several large airlines say they are capping fares in the wake of the Southwest Airlines Co. meltdown, but that doesn’t mean stranded travelers should expect to find airfare deals. Multiple carriers—including Delta Air Lines Inc., American Airlines Group Inc. and United Airlines Holdings Inc.—said they would put a cap on fares to accommodate travelers making last-minute bookings after Southwest Airlines canceled nearly 16,000 flights since Dec. 22.

☆ Southwest Promises to Reimburse Customers Affected By Meltdown
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Allison Pohle | Jacob Passy | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Southwest Airlines Co. said it would reimburse customers for many types of reasonable expenses they have taken on after the airline canceled close to 16,000 flights since last Thursday, leaving people stranded across the country. Southwest has canceled another 2,363 flights Thursday thus far, according to data from FlightAware. The company said it would restart regular flights Friday after flying a reduced schedule over the last few days.

☆ Southwest Airlines Resumes Ticket Sales, Prepares to Restart Regular Flights Friday
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Alison Sider | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Southwest Airlines Co. executives said the airline is removing limits on ticket sales, rebuilding crew schedules and shuttling baggage as it gears up to resume its full flying schedule on Friday. The airline canceled nearly two-thirds of its flights Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, part of an effort to dig out from a cascading meltdown after last week’s severe winter storm threw it into disarray. While other airlines were able to recover from the brutal weather within a few days, Southwest continued to spiral.

The storm forced U.S. airlines to cancel thousands of flights around the holiday weekend, but Southwest's problems deepened while other airlines largely recovered. Southwest plans to return to normal flight schedules on Friday, the airline said in a statement, adding it was eager to get back to normal ahead of the New Year holiday weekend. On a Sept. 27 picket line, she added, one sign read, "Picket line loading, Southwest Airlines technology failure." The comments echoed those of the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, which said leadership had failed to adapt operations to address repeated systems failures, despite years of calls for improvements by the union. The U.S. Transportation Department is investigating the large number of cancelled and delayed Southwest flights in recent days to determine if they were in the airline's control.

☆ Southwest Airlines plans to return to normal operations on Friday
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

☆ Southwest unions say they warned company about outdated systems for years
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Shelby TauberWASHINGTON, Dec 29 (Reuters) - Employee unions say they warned Southwest Airlines Co. management for years that its technological systems badly needed upgrades, as the low-cost carrier canceled thousands of flights during the busy holiday travel crunch. Flight attendants have been complaining about technological failures at the airline for years, according to Lyn Montgomery, president of the Southwest Airlines Flight Attendance Union. On a Sept. 27 picket line, she added, one sign read, "Picket line loading, Southwest Airlines technology failure." The comments echoed those of the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, which blamed leadership failures in adapting airline operations to address repeated systems failures despite years of calls for improvements by the union. Company officials acknowledged that current problems stem, in part, from an inability of internal logistics and scheduling systems to recover after widespread storm disruptions.

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