WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Transportation announced it will investigate Southwest Airlines’ onslaught of cancellations that stranded thousands of travelers and their luggage at airports and wreaked havoc on holiday plans.
Although passengers were told to expect cancellations and delays after a weekend snowstorm swept through the country, Southwest canceled more than 70% of its flights on Monday and 60% on Tuesday, according to flight tracker FlightAware. Other airlines, including American, United, Delta and JetBlue, had only about a 2% cancellation rate by Tuesday.
The massive and disproportionate delays triggered scrutiny from the Transportation Department, which tweeted Monday night that the agency intends to “examine whether cancellations were controllable and if Southwest is complying with its customer service plan.”
