Department of Transportation Expects Southwest to 'Meet Its Obligations'

As Southwest Airlines continues recovering from operational disruptions linked to winter storm Elliott, the Department of Transportation (DOT) said it expects the airline to "meet its obligations to passengers and workers" and "take steps" to prevent mass flight cancellations moving forward.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg spoke with Southwest CEO Bob Jordan and union leaders about flight cancellations Tuesday afternoon, according to a DOT statement posted on its social media channels.

The DOT expressed concern Monday about the thousands of Southwest flights that have been canceled over the last week and the continuing disruptions to the airline's flight schedule. Officials said the department will be looking into "whether cancellations were controllable and if Southwest is complying with its customer service plan."

Most airlines operating in the U.S. encountered weather-related snags over the last week as the winter storm named Elliott pummeled cities across the country. Thousands of flights were canceled heading into one of the busiest holiday travel weekends of the year, but most airlines were close to their normal flight schedules by the time the weekend was over. Meanwhile, Southwest announced on Monday that it plans to carry out about one-third of its regular flight schedule for "the next several days" as the airline continues operational recovery efforts.

Data from the flight tracking website FlightAware shows that while other U.S. airlines had fewer than 100 canceled flights each on Tuesday, Southwest had more than 2,600 cancellations. The airline has already canceled more than 2,400 of its Wednesday flights, or about 61 percent of the airline's Wednesday flight schedule. Southwest flights also accounted for 1,619 of the 1,965 flights around the world initially scheduled to take off on Thursday that have already been canceled, according to FlightAware data as of 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.

In a Tuesday update, Southwest offered "heartfelt apologies" for the "continuing challenges" it is facing. The airline said it is "rebalancing the airline and repositioning Crews and our fleet" as it battles "wide-scale disruption."

A Southwest spokesperson directed Newsweek to the airline's Tuesday update when reached for comment.

Later Tuesday, Southwest released a video update from Jordan, in which he said he is "truly sorry" about all the travel disruptions passengers have experienced over the last week. Jordan said the airline is "doing everything we can to return to a normal operation."

The airline is encountering frustration from travelers amid mass flight cancellations. Videos and photos shared on social media have shown luggage stacked in Southwest terminals, with travelers impacted by the cancellations instructed to search the piles for bags they had already checked in.

For the people who got stuck and were unable to return home, the DOT said Southwest's customer service "commits the airline to providing meal vouchers and hotels where available to passengers who are experiencing significant delays and cancelations." The department included a link to the airline's customer service plan for passengers to review and find out what assistance they should expect.

The department also urged passengers encountering travel issues to review their rights under the department's Office of Aviation Consumer Protection and file a complaint when necessary.