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His group wants a change in federal law that would make it easier for states and private parties to sue airlines for harming consumers. “What Pete Buttigieg should do and what he will do are probably two different things,” McGee said. William McGee, a travel expert at the American Economic Liberties Project, noted that the Transportation Department fined Frontier Airlines and several foreign carriers for slow refunds early in the pandemic but didn’t touch the four biggest U.S. Some consumer advocates are skeptical the government will punish Southwest. Since Southwest plans to pay $428 million in shareholder dividends next month, “the numbers are not life-threatening, although brand damage has been done,” Mann said. He estimated that could total 6,000 cancellations affecting 1 million customers and adding up to $300 million. Robert Mann, an aviation consultant and former airline executive, said the Transportation Department could force Southwest to pay refunds for all flights that were canceled for reasons within the airline’s control, such as lack of crews. “They need to make sure that those stranded passengers get to where they need to go and that they are provided adequate compensation,” including for missed flights, hotels and meals, he said Wednesday on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” He vowed to hold the airline accountable and push it to reimburse travelers. He noted that while cancellations across the rest of the industry declined to about 4% of scheduled flights, they remained above 60% at Southwest.įrom the high rate of cancellations to customers’ inability to reach Southwest on the phone, the airline’s performance has been unacceptable, Buttigieg said. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who has criticized airlines for previous disruptions, said that “meltdown” was the only word he could think of to describe this week’s events at Southwest. “For now, I want you to know that we are committed to that.”

“We have some real work to do in making this right,” said Jordan, a 34-year Southwest veteran who became CEO in February. In a video that Southwest posted late Tuesday, CEO Robert Jordan said Southwest would operate a reduced schedule for several days but hoped to be “back on track before next week.”