Southwest Airlines Touts $49 Airfares, Job Promotions Amid Meltdown Fallout

A traveler walks past a Southwest Airlines airplane as it taxies from a gate at Baltimore Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport in Baltimore, Maryland, Oct. 11, 2021. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Southwest Airlines has announced an airfare sale and job promotions for some of its leaders while the company is still handling a flood of consumer complaints in the wake of 16,500 canceled flights.

Southwest began selling $49 one-way airfares on Jan. 10 for nonstop trips between select cities. Examples of these “low-fare getaways” include jaunts between Austin, Texas, and New Orleans, Louisiana; Phoenix-Los Angeles; and Chicago-Nashville.

In effect for two days, through Jan. 12, the low fares are valid for trips planned for Jan. 31-May 17 this year.

Southwest called the special pricing a “seasonal airfare sale.” The discounted rates apparently are intended to entice customers to return to Southwest.

The airline has enjoyed an exceedingly loyal fan base. Some rallied to the airline’s defense, but others joined in online rants following the December debacle.

The fare-sale announcement did not mention the widespread service disruptions that hit Southwest before Christmas and persisted for about a week.

Promotions, Not Demotions

Southwest also did not refer to those problems in its Jan. 9 announcement about five leaders being given job promotions.

No employee was demoted or left the company as part of the changes. Southwest said the changes would strengthen operations.

The promotions mostly involved the reshuffling of vice presidents. The changes were part of a restructuring last year after the new CEO, Bob Jordan, took the helm. That was months before the airline’s operational meltdown.

Beginning Dec. 21, a winter storm touched off internal problems at Southwest. The Texas-based airline suffered longer, more extensive disruptions than other U.S. airlines.

In a letter to CEO Bob Jordan, the U.S. Department of Transportation said Southwest, not the weather, was responsible for snafus after Dec. 24.

On Dec. 28,  for example, while rival airlines canceled 3 percent of their flights, Southwest’s cancellation rate was 59 percent, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg noted in a Dec. 29 letter.

Southwest’s operations returned to near-normal on Dec. 30, except for ripple effects that caused flight delays.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg testifies at a Senate Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies hearing on the 2023 budget for the Department of Transportation, in Washington on April 28, 2022. (Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images)

Refunds

As of Jan. 10, Southwest was continuing to issue refunds and reimbursements to customers whose flights were canceled or abnormally delayed during the “travel disruption.”

“Southwest is processing flight refund requests within an average of approximately three days,” Chris Perry, Southwest Airlines spokesman, said in an email to The Epoch Times.

That’s faster than the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) requires. Air carriers have seven days to process refunds for customers who paid with credit cards for flights that were canceled and not rebooked. “We are meeting that requirement–while completing tens of thousands of requests for refunds and reimbursements per day,” Perry wrote.

The DOT requires action within 20 days for customers who paid with checks or cash.

Customers can seek repayment at a new website, southwest.com/traveldisruption.

Perry thanked customers for their patience. He also described an “all-hands effort” to assist them. “As we clear the queue of refund requests, we are moving on to processing a higher percentage of reimbursement requests each day,” he said.

Earlier, the airline said it had made significant progress toward reuniting customers with lost luggage.

Southwest Airlines staff tend the counter in the check-in area, at Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, on Dec. 28, 2022. (Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images)

Customers, Employees Complain

In an update sent to The Epoch Times, DOT said it had fielded “thousands” of new consumer complaints about Southwest but gave no more specific estimate.

Those complaints included reports of a “lack of ticket refunds and reimbursements” from customers stranded during the spate of cancellations.

DOT said it has “sent every complaint directly to Southwest,” with directions to make things right with customers.

Under federal regulations, the airline also must “provide substantive responses to all consumer complaints within 60 days,” DOT said.

“No amount of financial compensation can fully make up for passengers who missed moments with their families that they can never get back,” the DOT update said. The agency pledged “to continue to work to ensure that Southwest takes care of its customers.”

The company has repeatedly apologized for its performance failures. Southwest says employees have worked ‘round-the-clock to handle customers’ requests for refunds and reimbursements.

Jordan also has thanked employees for working so hard under such difficult conditions.

However, the Southwest Airline Pilots Association (SWAPA) has blamed the company’s executive level, especially former CEO Gary Kelly, for failing to heed pleas to improve infrastructure. The union says the computer system is old and can handle only a few hundred cancellations at a time.

SWAPA and other union leaders allege the company failed to properly prepare for the winter storm. They are calling for meaningful changes to prevent a recurrence; Jordan has promised to deliver that, with input from employee groups.

CEO Apologizes to Workers

Jordan wrote to the company’s 66,000 employees: “We let you down, and I’m sorry,” according to The Dallas Morning News. “I’m sorry for the physical and emotional toll. I’m sorry for the loss of time and memories that can never be replaced. Most of all, I’m sorry about the damage to your confidence and trust.”

The CEO also told employees: “I’m grateful for the many kind, encouraging words, but I also understand the skepticism, the need for action over apologies, and performance over promises.”

To help make amends, the airline gave employees 25,000 internal rewards points that can be traded for Southwest merchandise, travel, or about $400 worth of gift cards.

In a separate article, the newspaper also pointed out that Southwest has promised to produce a plan to avoid a future meltdown but “is short on details.”

Southwest Airlines Co. says it “operates one of the world’s most admired and awarded airlines.”

The 51-year-old airline, offering service in 121 airports across 11 countries, says it “cherishes a passionate loyalty among as many as 130 million Customers carried a year.”

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the airline boasted profitability for 47 straight years. The company was also the first U.S. airline to return to profitability, post-pandemic.

The company’s fourth quarter of 2022 is projected to take a hit because of the meltdown. Losses could reach $835 million, the company has said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.