Southwest Promises Refunds as Airline Sees ‘Certain’ Financial Impact

Southwest Airlines passengers wait in line at the baggage services office 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 on Dec. 28, 2022. Shelby Tauber/Reuters

WASHINGTON—Southwest Airlines promised to reimburse passengers for expenses such as hotels and car rentals in addition to refunding tickets after it canceled thousands of flights due to a massive winter storm and said there would be a still-undetermined hit to its earnings.

“There‘ll certainly be an impact to the fourth quarter,” Chief Commercial Officer Ryan Green told reporters on a call on Thursday. “We’re ... working through all the financial elements of this. We’ll share that information when we have all that compiled and are ready to do that.”