Photo: Jim Vondruska/Getty Images
Faced with cancellations of more than 10,000 flights over the holiday week, members of the Senate Commerce Committee have vowed to investigate Southwest Airlines, They are not entirely convinced that the freezing weather is the real reason for the disorder that prevails in some airports, where thousands of travelers are stranded.
In this regard, through a statement, Maria Cantwell, chairwoman of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, says travelers deserve a refund for canceled flights.
“The problems at Southwest Airlines in recent days go beyond the weather. The committee will investigate the causes of these outages and their impact on consumers.
Many airlines do not adequately communicate with consumers during flight cancellations. Consumers deserve strong protections, including an updated consumer refund rule,” he stated.
For his part, The Transportation Department said it is examining whether the cancellations were controllable and whether Southwest is reimbursing or accommodating customers in accordance with its customer service plan.
When a flight is canceled or severely delayed and it’s the airline’s fault, they are responsible for taking care of the customer. Southwest needs to make good on its promise to travelers. pic.twitter.com/Cs9ZqozYwj
— TransportationGov (@USDOT) December 28, 2022
It is noteworthy that Southwest Airlines does not allow passengers stranded at airports to rebook other flights, forcing them to seek alternatives to reach their destinations by purchasing high-priced last-minute tickets on other airlines.
Through a recently enabled portal, customers with cancellations can request a refund, but some maintain that the airline only wants to offer them a credit for other tickets and not a full refund of the money paid.
It turned out that Southwest Airlines has canceled 60% more flights than other companies such as United and JetBlue.
In this regard, the union representatives of the airline affirm that the flight attendants and other members of the crew are trapped in different states of the country after a series of cancellations and this further aggravates the situation.
In the meantime, Bob Jordan, CEO of the company, acknowledged that the company’s programming platforms are not advanced enough to face the current crisis. that lives in several airports where they operate.
You may also like:
- Russia will stop exporting oil to countries that set a price cap
- South Korea ends ban on importing sex dolls
- Tripledemia causes increase in drug prices and shortages