Congress is expected to receive new evidence Thursday of what was considered to be “internal chaos” with Southwest Airlines over the Christmas holiday meltdown and cancellations, CNN reported.
According to CNN, the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association is prepared to describe the operation as being held together by “duct tape,” while Southwest’s chief operating officer is expected to apologize and say the airline “is intensely focused on reducing the risk of repeating the operational disruption.”
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Some of the union’s evidence includes a message sent during the meltdown to a cockpit computer from the airline’s dispatchers asking what crew is onboard the plane, CNN says. A photograph of the message is reportedly included in SWAPA’s testimony and the union plans to present it at a Senate Commerce Committee hearing, reports say.
Southwest reportedly canceled nearly 15,000 flights around Christmas and left holiday travelers stranded. The massive disruptions began on Dec. 22 with a winter storm and snowballed when Southwest’s crew-scheduling technology was overwhelmed, leaving crews and planes out of position to operate flights. It took the airline eight days to recover.
Southwest CEO Bob Jordan issued an apology in January for the meltdown and gave customers 25,000 frequent-flyer points. The airline said the points are worth more than $300 in flights.
“I know that no amount of apologies can undo your experience,” Jordan wrote.
Jordan said that Southwest processed about 75% of the refund requests it has received.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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