If you're going to mess up thousands of people's holiday travel plans, it's going to cost you.
At least, such is the case with Southwest Airlines. Following last December's major holiday travel kerfuffle—ICYMI, the airline canceled over 16,900 flights and left 2 million passengers stranded in the days leading up to Christmas in 2022—the Department of Transportation is heavily fining the U.S. airline.
On December 18, the DOT announced a $140 million civil penalty against Southwest Airlines for numerous violations of consumer protection laws during and after the operational failures last year. This penalty is an addition to the $600 million Southwest already paid customers who experienced the outages and needed refunds, reimbursements and more during one of the busiest travel weeks of the year.
“Today’s action sets a new precedent and sends a clear message: if airlines fail their passengers, we will use the full extent of our authority to hold them accountable,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “Taking care of passengers is not just the right thing to do—it's required, and this penalty should put all airlines on notice to take every step possible to ensure that a meltdown like this never happens again.”
So, what does this mean for the current holiday travel season?
As Secretary Buttigieg said, this means airlines will be held accountable and face serious financial consequences if they fail their customers. Consumer protection laws that aren't upheld will lead to financial penalties that airlines will most likely want to avoid.
As for Southwest, the airline is ostensibly ready for one of the most popular travel seasons in history.
"We have spent the past year acutely focused on efforts to enhance the Customer Experience with significant investments and initiatives that accelerate operational resiliency, enhance cross-team collaboration and bolster overall preparedness for winter operations," Bob Jordan, Southwest Airlines President & Chief Executive Officer said in a news release after news of the penalty was made public. "Our commitment to customers has been central to our success across our 52-year history and has helped us become one of the world's most admired and trusted airlines."