Three months after a travel meltdown plagued Dallas-based Southwest Airlines, the carrier is rolling out what it hopes to be its redemption: a three-part plan to boost operations.
At J.P. Morgan’s Industrials Conference, Bob Jordan, Southwest Airlines’ CEO, unveiled the fixes, which it hopes to complete by October. Southwest Airlines announced the plan following an initial study with aviation consulting firm Oliver Wyman after the December crisis in which it canceled 16,700 flights over 10 days during the key holiday travel period.
“We understand the root causes that led to the holiday disruption, and we’re validating our internal review with the third-party assessment,” CEO Bob Jordan said in a release. “Now, we expect to mitigate the risk of an event of this magnitude ever happening again. Work is well underway implementing action items to prepare for next winter—with some items already completed. I want to thank our employees and customers for their patience and grace, and we’re resolved to emerge an even stronger airline.”
