It&#8217;s not easy to find a lot of people who are willing to go back and revisit the early days of Barack Obama&#8217;s presidency. Conservatives don&#8217;t want to relive the whole nightmare, for obvious reasons. And for their part, Democrats would rather move on, too. They don&#8217;t particularly want to dwell on Obama&#8217;s &#8220;Russian reset,&#8221; for example, where he told us that Vladimir Putin wasn&#8217;t really a bad guy. That kind of thinking isn&#8217;t exactly compatible with Democrats&#8217; current narrative. Nor are Democrats interested in reminding anyone of Obama&#8217;s promise to lower healthcare costs, or his promise to close Guantanamo Bay, or his promise to stop the weather from changing, and so on. So if there&#8217;s bipartisan agreement on anything, it&#8217;s that Obama&#8217;s presidency isn&#8217;t worth talking about anymore.
But there is one moment from the early Obama years that&#8217;s suddenly become relevant again. I&#8217;m talking about the crash of a Colgan Air passenger plane, which was flying under the brand name of Continental Airlines. The crash occurred in February of 2009, just a month after Obama&#8217;s inauguration. It was the fourth in a string of crashes involving regional airliners from 2005 to 2009. 50 people died, including one person on the ground. An investigation revealed that the pilots — one man and one woman — were overworked and underpaid. They were also objectively bad pilots, at least on that particular night. They weren&#8217;t paying attention to their instruments, to the point that they stalled their plane while on approach for landing. And then, when the aircraft warned them of the stall, they panicked and turned a bad situation into a catastrophe.
In the wake of that crash, the Obama administration mandated a series of changes that, taken together, amount to a major overhaul of the entire aviation industry. One of the big changes was that all pilots — whether they flew for a regional carrier or a major airline — needed to have hundreds of hours of additional training before they could be certified. Pilots were also entitled to more rest breaks. There were several other new regulations, too. And for the most part, no one objected. It was a pretty uncontroversial move. After all, when planes are crashing all over the place, it makes sense to require better training and more rest for the pilots.
But all of these new regulations created a new problem. Airlines that were already struggling with a pilot shortage began having even more difficulty finding enough pilots to fly their routes. In an industry that was concerned with safety, the solution to this problem is obvious: you can either raise salaries to attract more pilots, or you can cut down on flights. But the aviation industry, with the encouragement of the Obama administration, decided on a different approach: They began appealing to so-called &#8220;diverse&#8221; applicants and adopted a much more lax, carefree workplace culture. Just like the FAA, which lowered standards to attract different demographics, airlines created programs to attract women and racial minorities. Then, after the COVID mandates decimated the aviation industry like so many others, these efforts went into overdrive.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/mws-ep-1540-member-exclusive" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Matt Walsh Show</a></h3>
The defenders of these diversity initiatives insisted that standards weren&#8217;t being compromised. They argued that the pool of applicants was being expanded, but that all pilots were still competent. They maintained that line of argument even after an Amazon cargo plane operated by Atlas Air crashed in 2019 while landing in Houston, when the pilot inexplicably steered the plane directly into the water. An investigation revealed that the pilot, a man from the Caribbean nation of Antigua named Conrad Aska, had repeatedly failed flight training, but was promoted anyway. His family even sued Amazon, alleging that Conrad Aska never should&#8217;ve been allowed into the cockpit, based on his sheer incompetence. But both Amazon and Atlas Air — which repeatedly preached about the importance of diversity — had no problem handing Conrad Aska the keys to a wide-body Boeing cargo plane.
The defenders of diversity initiatives also downplayed the crash of Southwest Airlines Flight 345, which suffered a landing-gear collapse while landing at La Guardia in 2013. The whole plane was totaled; it was a $15 million loss. Several people were seriously injured. This is a crash you probably haven&#8217;t heard much about, even though given recent events, it&#8217;s once again very relevant. 
This is footage taken by a passenger onboard Southwest Flight 345. It shows the moment the front landing gear collapsed as soon as the plane touched the ground after a very rapid descent. Watch:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="003 LaGuardia crash" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MiQT0nJtQ30?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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An investigation revealed that the captain of this flight was a woman who had multiple complaints filed against her by her co-pilots. In this instance, she allowed the plane to descend rapidly towards the ground without properly configuring the flaps for landing. And then, when she knew the plane was going too fast, she didn&#8217;t abort the landing. Instead, she ordered the first officer to &#8220;get down,&#8221; and then she aggressively took control of the plane herself and flew it, nose-first, into the runway.
So how was a pilot this incompetent allowed to serve as a captain ferrying passengers around on a jetliner? A few weeks ago, I received a tip from a pilot at Southwest who told me that this particular captain was notorious for inappropriate and dangerous behavior in the cockpit. A lot of pilots didn&#8217;t want to fly with her. The captain, for her part, thought the complaints were really about her gender or her sexuality, instead of her competence. And apparently, Southwest agreed.
This was not a widely reported episode, for the simple reason that it&#8217;s extremely inconvenient to proponents of so-called &#8220;diversity&#8221; in aviation. We&#8217;re required to believe that diversity improves the functioning of every organization, whether it&#8217;s Harvard University or Southwest Airlines. So most media outlets buried the story. They kept the identity of the woman pilot confidential, even after Southwest finally terminated her employment following the crash. Very few news reports mentioned her gender at all, or any other identifying information about her. They did the same thing with Conrad Aska and many other pilots. They just didn&#8217;t talk about them.
For a while, this strategy worked. Diversity initiatives continued for many years without any interruption, across all major airlines. But the problem, of course, is that you can&#8217;t downplay airline crashes forever. Eventually the crashes become more noticeable. Eventually people start dying, and not just in cargo planes. And at that point — which is the point we&#8217;ve now reached — the toll of diversity becomes harder and harder to deny. And then people will do the rational thing. They&#8217;ll start looking more closely at what exactly is going on in the aviation industry. And in particular, they&#8217;ll start looking at who exactly is flying the aircraft that keep crashing.
First, of course, there was the disastrous mid-air collision that was apparently caused, at least in part, by a female Black Hawk pilot near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. This pilot was clearly flying too high, for reasons that aren&#8217;t clear. She also failed to see a jet that was directly in her path. Based on the most recent <a href="https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/Documents/Feb.14.2025_Briefing_Mid-air_Collision%20near%20DCA.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">information</a> we have from the NTSB, it&#8217;s clear that, about three minutes before the collision, the Black Hawk pilot was warned by her instructor that she was flying 100 feet too high for the area they were flying in. She was also warned about the passenger jet by air traffic control, which also provided the passenger jet&#8217;s location, well over a minute before impact. But she never took any evasive action whatsoever. The pilots of the American Airlines plane put their plane into a maximum nose-up climb just one second before impact, so clearly they eventually saw something. But the woman flying the Black Hawk never did.
Then, earlier this week, we all witnessed the Endeavor Air crash at Toronto&#8217;s airport.
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🚨 JUST IN: Delta Air Lines is now offering a $30,000 payoff to victims of their plane crash, just two days after it occurred
Are they trying to pay people off to get ahead of the impending DEI pilot revelations?
Delta &amp; operator Endeavor, famous for their “all female crews,”… <a href="https://t.co/HBtEVXtxoH">pic.twitter.com/HBtEVXtxoH</a>
&mdash; Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) <a href="https://twitter.com/nicksortor/status/1892355772580806811?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 19, 2025</a></blockquote>
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The plane clearly came in too quickly, just like the Southwest Airlines jet that I mentioned earlier. And then the landing gear collapsed and the plane flipped over. Based on air traffic control audio, it appears that one pilot — the one who was presumably handling the radios, instead of flying the plane — was a male. But we still don&#8217;t have the identity of the pilot who was actually flying the plane. Reports from various sources online, citing tips from airline pilots and firefighters at Toronto&#8217;s airport, suggest that the pilot who was flying was a woman. But we don&#8217;t know for sure because no one in the government, or at Delta Airlines, will tell us.
If it&#8217;s true, that wouldn&#8217;t exactly be a surprise. Endeavor Air and Delta have gone out of their way in recent years to advertise how many female pilots they have. They&#8217;ve also done a full-court press to attract more female applicants. In fact, as you may have seen, Endeavor&#8217;s official TikTok and X accounts are obsessed with the idea of so-called &#8220;unmanned flights,&#8221; where no men are in the crew. So they&#8217;re not just pro-women; they&#8217;re actively anti-men. And if I&#8217;m being honest, whoever&#8217;s putting together Endeavor&#8217;s social media posts seems to have a sense of humor about the situation. Here for example is one recent tweet from Endeavor:
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Buckle up ladies and gentlemen, your flight is unmanned today. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/girlpower?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#girlpower</a>
📸: Caitlyn M., FO, CRJ-900 <a href="https://t.co/vL7ec2P3fX">pic.twitter.com/vL7ec2P3fX</a>
&mdash; Endeavor Air (@EndeavorAir) <a href="https://twitter.com/EndeavorAir/status/1533886722286788610?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 6, 2022</a></blockquote>
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On the surface, I guess this is supposed to be an empowering, girlboss message. If that&#8217;s the case, then why does it begin with the warning, &#8220;Buckle up&#8221;? It&#8217;s like going to a restaurant where they tell you, &#8220;Enjoy your food presented by an all-female kitchen. Hope you brought a bucket!” It&#8217;s almost like whoever&#8217;s writing this post knows something we don&#8217;t. 
And then there&#8217;s this now-infamous TikTok footage from Endeavor Air, featuring a few more girlbosses. Some of these clips are so on-the-nose that it seems like they were prepared by a male intern somewhere who&#8217;s tired of all the DEI initiatives, and he was trying to find some desperate way to communicate that message without losing his internship in the process. Watch:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="006 Endeavor women" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nQXNKZObNus?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Yes, the lyrics there are, &#8220;Live fast, die young, bad girls do it well.&#8221; That&#8217;s what you hear after you read the caption, &#8220;Leave the flying to the men? I don&#8217;t think so.&#8221; Again, this is the official messaging of an airline that&#8217;s supposedly committed to safety and competence. They want you to know that you&#8217;ll have an all-female flight crew that loves to &#8220;live fast and die young.” That is just about the worst possible mantra for an airline pilot.
When I looked at the rest of Endeavor&#8217;s TikTok account, I found that these clips are not rare exceptions to the norm. Quite the opposite. Pretty much every single post involves women dancing or miming the words to a song of some kind. It&#8217;s like a sorority&#8217;s TikTok channel, instead of the official social media account of a company that&#8217;s responsible for ferrying thousands of passengers across the sky at high speeds in aluminum tubes every single day.
Here&#8217;s just a small selection of what I&#8217;m talking about:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="007 Endeavor TikToks" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/q94keOak1gQ?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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It&#8217;s like they&#8217;re running an adult daycare. They&#8217;re not even pretending to convey the idea that they&#8217;re serious people who should be entrusted with your life.
The description for Endeavor Air&#8217;s account on TikTok reads, &#8220;CR-slay everyday&#8221; — which I assume is a reference to the CRJ aircraft that they fly. This is how you would present your company if you wanted to attract the ditziest, least responsible and least intelligent applicants imaginable. And based on recent events, it seems like that&#8217;s exactly what Endeavor got.
But as easy as it would be to blame this on Endeavor, which is a relatively small subsidiary of Delta, the truth is that this is a much deeper problem. It goes to the top. And to illustrate that, here&#8217;s footage from the pinned tweet of Delta Airlines&#8217; main account at the time of the Endeavor Air crash. Watch:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="008 Delta slay" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Zyb1SUAG7Vk?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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So this whole &#8220;slay&#8221; concept is apparently a big deal at both Endeavor and Delta. They think it&#8217;s a really important message to communicate. They&#8217;re girlbosses who &#8220;slay.&#8221; Of course, &#8220;slay&#8221; means &#8220;to kill.&#8221; And that&#8217;s what you can expect to happen now when you board these planes, evidently. They&#8217;ll slay you. With their flying skills.
As painful as this footage is, I will give Delta some credit. Yesterday, in an interview with CBS, Delta&#8217;s CEO was given an opportunity to blame Donald Trump for the crash in Toronto. Yes, the corporate press is going with the narrative that Donald Trump is responsible for a pilot&#8217;s terrible crash landing in a foreign country. And in response to this setup, the Delta CEO immediately shot the question down, which led to a pretty entertaining facial expression from the CBS anchor. Watch:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="009 Delta trump CBS" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZYUEHi_F0gQ?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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Notice there&#8217;s no question from CBS about the identity of the pilot, or her qualifications, or whether Endeavor regrets posting nonstop music video TikToks for the past five years. Instead the question is about how Donald Trump is to blame. This has been the approach of so many establishment interests ever since the aviation industry began experiencing a series of crashes more than a decade ago. They deflect and they minimize responsibility, all while insisting that the underlying system is working fine.
But with every major airline disaster, these deflections become less and less effective. The more they hide information about who&#8217;s flying these planes, the more people will come to realize what&#8217;s actually going on. And at a certain point — a point that&#8217;s rapidly approaching — no one will fly on a plane unless they know who&#8217;s flying it. People will demand thorough reviews of pilots, like they demand reviews of restaurants before making a reservation. That won&#8217;t be a sustainable model for most airlines. But for people who want to fly with some peace of mind — free from the complete and total incompetence that Obama-era diversity initiatives have wrought, so many years later— it&#8217;ll be the only option worth considering.

Pensive dark-haired woman co-pilot seated in the cockpit

Girlbossing The Airline Industry — Straight Into The Ground

Airline Crash

Airlines

Delta Airlines

Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI)

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)

Matt Walsh

Obama Administration

Opinion

Southwest Airlines

Women

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/southwest-airlines">Southwest Airlines</a> is ending its policy which allows customers open seating on flights. 
The airline has been unique in the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/air-travel">industry</a> for its open seating policy, which has been in place for the 50-year existence of the company.  
Southwest’s unofficial motto used to be: “You can sit anywhere you want — just like at church.” But now, due to changing customer preferences, the company will move to a more traditional assigned seating plan with premium seating available for an upcharge.
The <a href="https://www.southwestairlinesinvestorrelations.com/news-and-events/news-releases/2024/07-25-2024-110102603">announcement</a> on Thursday noted how “the research is clear and indicates that 80% of Southwest Customers, and 86% of potential Customers, prefer an assigned seat.”
&#8220;Moving to assigned seating and offering premium legroom options will be a transformational change that cuts across almost all aspects of the Company,&#8221; said Bob Jordan, President, CEO, &amp; Vice Chairman of the Board. 
&#8220;Although our unique open seating model has been a part of Southwest Airlines since our inception, our thoughtful and extensive research makes it clear this is the right choice—at the right time—for our Customers, our People, and our Shareholders. We are excited to incorporate Customer and Employee feedback to design a unique experience that only Southwest can deliver.”
He added, “We have been building purposefully to this change as part of a comprehensive upgrade to the Southwest experience as we focus on Customer expectations – and it will unlock new sources of revenue consistent with our laser focus on delivering improved financial performance.&#8221;
In addition to changing the seat assignment procedures, Southwest Airlines announced that it will add redeye flights to its schedule. The first overnight flights will become available in select markets beginning in February 2025.
The change comes as Southwest&#8217;s revenue is down and the company battles safety concerns over its Boeing planes. &#8220;We are taking urgent and deliberate steps to mitigate near-term revenue challenges and implement longer-term transformational initiatives that are designed to drive meaningful top and bottom-line growth,” Jordan said of the change.
In April, a Southwest Boeing plane going from Denver to Houston was forced to make an <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/southwest-flight-forced-to-make-emergency-landing-after-engine-cover-rips-off">emergency landing</a> after the cover ripped off one of the plane’s engines and struck the wing flap.

Southwest

Southwest Airlines Changes Open Seating Policy, Says 80% Of Customers Want An Assigned Seat

Air and Space

Air Travel

Business

A Southwest Airlines flight headed from Denver, CO, to Houston, TX, had to make an emergency landing on Sunday after the cover ripped off one of the plane&#8217;s engines, striking the wing flap.
Pilots on the Boeing 737-800 informed air traffic control at the Denver International Airport that &#8220;several passengers and flight attendants heard something loud hit the wing,&#8221; after which the plane was cleared to make a safe emergency landing.
Video of the moment the engine cover ripped away made the rounds on X on Sunday.
ABC News transportation reporter Sam Sweeney shared one clip, commenting, &#8220;Scary moments for passengers on a Southwest flight from Denver to Houston when the engine cover ripped off during flight, forcing the plane to return to Denver Sunday morning.&#8221;
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Scary moments for passengers on a Southwest flight from Denver to Houston when the engine cover ripped off during flight , forcing the plane to return to Denver Sunday morning. <a href="https://t.co/BBpCBXpTsl">pic.twitter.com/BBpCBXpTsl</a>
&mdash; Sam Sweeney (@SweeneyABC) <a href="https://twitter.com/SweeneyABC/status/1777018698345120211?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 7, 2024</a></blockquote>
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In another clip, shared by Mike Sington, a pilot could be heard talking to air traffic control about the loose engine cowling, and passengers could be heard saying, &#8220;There it goes,&#8221; and, &#8220;There goes the rest of it,&#8221; as the cover broke loose and flew out of sight.
Southwest Airlines addressed the incident in a statement to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/07/business/southwest-boeing-737-800-engine/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CNN</a>, saying, &#8220;We apologize for the inconvenience of their delay but place our highest priority on ultimate Safety for our Customers and Employees.&#8221;
The passengers on the affected flight were transported to Houston on a different plane, and were delayed by several hours.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, an investigation into the incident is pending. No injuries were reported.
Sunday&#8217;s mishap is just the latest in a string of issues plaguing Boeing, including one incident involving an external panel <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/united-airlines-boeing-737-loses-external-panel-mid-air" target="_blank" rel="noopener">falling off</a> as a United Airlines flight was in midair en route from San Francisco to Oregon. The flight crew in that case was not aware the panel had torn free until after they landed.

Southwest Flight Forced To Make Emergency Landing After Engine Cover Rips Off

Airplane

Boeing

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/southwest-airlines">Southwest Airlines</a> is going viral for their company-wide “<a href="https://www.southwest.com/help/booking/extra-seat-policy">Customer of Size</a>” policy, which allows overweight <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/air-travel">travelers</a> to potentially get extra seats for free if they don’t fit.
The policy states that customers who “encroach upon any part of the neighboring seat(s)” may purchase however many extra seats they need. Those passengers can then request a refund after travel, <a href="https://www.southwest.com/help/booking/extra-seat-policy">according</a> to their website.
Southwest says the policy isn’t focused on just <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/obesity">weight</a>, but applies to anyone who doesn’t fit in the seat because of their body type. The space is determined by the placement of armrests. 
“The armrest is considered to be the definitive boundary between seats,” the policy says. “If you’re unable to lower both armrests and/or encroach upon any portion of a seat next to you, you need a second seat. Our policy does not focus on weight.”
“The purchase of additional seats serves as a notification of a special seating need and allows us to adequately plan for the number of occupied seats onboard,&#8221; the policy continues. “It also helps us ensure we can accommodate all customers on the flight for which they purchased a ticket and avoid asking customers to relinquish their seats for unplanned accommodation.”
A TikTok influencer named Kimmy Garris, who calls herself a “fat solo traveler,” posted a video of herself boarding a Southwest plane in October and asking about their policy for overweight passengers. The customer service agent can be seen giving Garris an extra ticket, which the TikTok user said “should be the industry norm.”
But unlike Garris, many social media users were annoyed by the policy. 
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“Rewarding bad behavior. Society is regressing,” one person <a href="https://twitter.com/lifegripper/status/1735704204675776818">wrote</a>.
“Fat supremacy in action,” another commenter agreed.
Many comments questioned whether tall travelers would get extra perks as well.
“I presume this means that tall people will be upgraded to Business Select class for free, then, [SouthwestAir]?” another person <a href="https://twitter.com/Hilohaw/status/1735696866321600721">asked</a>.
Most social media users worried that the airline giving away free seats to certain passengers would result in ticket prices going up for everyone else.

Southwest Trashed For ‘Customer Of Size’ Policy Which Gives Free Seats To Overweight Travelers

Southwest Trashed For 'Customer of Size' Policy Which Gives Free Seats To Overweight Travelers

Obesity

U.S.

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/southwest-airlines" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Southwest Airlines</a> continues to see <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/business" target="_blank" rel="noopener">losses</a> stemming from the holiday <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/air-travel" target="_blank" rel="noopener">travel</a> meltdown that left passengers stranded across the nation at the end of last year.
The company announced a net loss of $159 million in the first quarter of 2023 as customers booked fewer flights in reaction to the carrier canceling thousands of flights between December 21 and December 31. Even as other carriers resumed normal operations, Southwest continued to delay and cancel an elevated number of flights.
Southwest CEO Bob Jordan confirmed in an earnings <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/southwest-airlines-reports-first-quarter-2023-results-301808898.html#:~:text=(NYSE%3A%20LUV)%20(the,operating%20revenues%20of%20%245.7%20billion" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announcement</a> released on Thursday that the company incurred the losses due to “cancellations of holiday return travel” and a subsequent “deceleration in bookings” in January and February. He added that demand trends for March were strong, resulting in “solid profitability for the month.”
“We expect solid profits in second quarter 2023 and continue to expect solid profits and year-over-year growth in both margins and return on invested capital for full year 2023,” the executive forecasted. “We also continue to expect our network to be roughly restored to pre-pandemic levels by the end of this year. We remain confident in our low-cost, low-fare business model and our long-term strategy, which is supported by a robust set of strategic initiatives designed to drive significant financial value.”
Southwest has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/southwest-reveals-how-much-holiday-flight-meltdown-will-cost-them" target="_blank" rel="noopener">estimated</a> that between $725 million and $825 million would be lost in the aftermath of the disruptions. The firm reported a $220 million loss in the fourth quarter of 2022 and previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/southwest-airlines-reports-massive-revenue-hit-after-christmas-meltdown" target="_blank" rel="noopener">warned</a> investors that fallout from the holiday disruptions would continue.
Executives <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/we-messed-up-southwest-executive-testifies-on-holiday-meltdown-chaos" target="_blank" rel="noopener">attributed</a> the problems in December to outdated technology systems and announced that Southwest would seek to enhance software used by crew members with a $1.3 billion information technology investment. The internal issues continue to cause disruptions: Southwest <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/southwest-sees-massive-number-of-flight-delays-after-technical-issue" target="_blank" rel="noopener">experienced</a> an unspecified technical problem that prompted a nationwide pause in departures on April 18, resulting in delays for nearly half of the carrier’s flights.
Southwest is unique among other major airlines in that flights are coordinated in a point-to-point system rather than a hub model, an arrangement that allows the carrier to service smaller cities more efficiently but worsens delays when the firm experiences unexpected disruptions.
Southwest COO Andrew Watterson <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23602424-written-testimony-of-andrew-watterson-coo-southwest-airlines-final" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> members of the Senate Commerce Committee two months ago that the holiday meltdown prompted the company to cancel flights so that crews could position themselves to resume normal operations. The firm has since attempted to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/southwest-gives-disgruntled-customers-frequent-flyer-points-in-aftermath-of-holiday-meltdown" target="_blank" rel="noopener">regain</a> the trust of disgruntled customers, granting many impacted passengers reward point vouchers amounting to $300 in value, as well as reimbursements for meals, hotel accommodations, rental cars, and tickets purchased with other carriers as a result of the delayed and canceled flights.
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“Southwest is intensely focused on reducing the risk of repeating the operational disruption we experienced in December,” Watterson asserted. “We are committed to running a great operation each and every day, and I have the utmost confidence that our people, processes, and technologies will do just that.”
The months since December have seen multiple air travel anomalies beyond Southwest. The Federal Aviation Administration <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/faa-reveals-more-details-on-system-outage-that-grounded-flights-nationwide" target="_blank" rel="noopener">grounded</a> all flights nationwide early on January 11 as the agency’s systems failed; officials later determined that “personnel unintentionally deleted files while working to correct synchronization between the live primary database and a backup database.” An international terminal at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/fire-power-outage-at-jfk-airport-causes-delayed-canceled-flights" target="_blank" rel="noopener">closed</a> on February 16 and opened on February 17 due to a power outage.

LaGuardia Airport

Southwest Continues To Take Losses From Last Year’s Holiday Travel Meltdown

Southwest Continues To Take Losses From Holiday Meltdown

Air &amp; Space

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/southwest-airlines" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Southwest Airlines</a> temporarily paused service on Tuesday morning over an unspecified internal technical issue, resulting in delays for nearly half of its <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/air-travel" target="_blank" rel="noopener">flights</a> only months after the company experienced a severe meltdown over the holiday travel season.
The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/federal-aviation-administration-faa" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Federal Aviation Administration</a> (FAA) <a href="https://twitter.com/FAANews/status/1648334637574356994" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> Southwest requested a nationwide pause in departures and <a href="https://twitter.com/FAANews/status/1648343231569035266" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> less than one hour later that the “pause has been lifted and their service has resumed.” The agency added that the temporary disruption was caused by a “technical issue with one of their internal systems.”
Roughly 1,800 Southwest flights, equivalent to 43% of the carrier’s departures, were delayed as of early Tuesday afternoon, according to <a href="https://uk.flightaware.com/live/cancelled/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">data</a> from FlightAware, significantly exceeding the 5% of flights delayed at both United Airlines and American Airlines.
“We’ve resumed operations this morning following a pause in service,” Southwest said in a <a href="https://twitter.com/SouthwestAir/status/1648349441693298688" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a> posted to social media, which added that the company would “work to restore operations and accommodate disrupted customers as quickly as possible.”
The technical issue comes after Southwest canceled some 16,700 flights between December 21 and December 31 amid heavy winter storms that impacted the United States in the days before Christmas. Even as other carriers resumed normal operations, Southwest continued to delay and cancel an elevated number of flights for several days. The company <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/southwest-reveals-how-much-holiday-flight-meltdown-will-cost-them" target="_blank" rel="noopener">estimated</a> that between $725 million and $825 million would be lost in the aftermath of the cancellations and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/southwest-airlines-reports-massive-revenue-hit-after-christmas-meltdown" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> an immediate $220 million loss in the fourth quarter of last year.
“Let me be clear: we messed up. In hindsight, we did not have enough winter operational resilience,” Southwest Airlines COO Andrew Watterson said in recent <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/we-messed-up-southwest-executive-testifies-on-holiday-meltdown-chaos" target="_blank" rel="noopener">remarks</a> before the Senate Commerce Committee. “This created an unprecedented amount and frequency of required changes to crew schedules that overwhelmed our crew scheduling processes and technology.”
The company is unique among other major airlines in that flights are arranged in a point-to-point system rather than a hub model. Southwest CEO Bob Jordan said in the fourth quarter earnings <a href="https://swamedia.com/releases/release-f30033abc7ead7522c3ea8021c3d5d2d-southwest-airlines-reports-fourth-quarter-and-full-year-2022-results" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> that “the priority of technology and other investments” will be elevated this year to bolster “operational resilience.”
Executives have attempted to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/southwest-gives-disgruntled-customers-frequent-flyer-points-in-aftermath-of-holiday-meltdown" target="_blank" rel="noopener">regain</a> the trust of disgruntled customers after thousands of passengers saw their flights delayed or canceled. At least some received reward points amounting to $300 in value; the company has also vowed to reimburse flyers for meals, hotel accommodations, rental cars, and tickets purchased with other carriers.
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“Southwest is intensely focused on reducing the risk of repeating the operational disruption we experienced in December,” Watterson added. “We are committed to running a great operation each and every day, and I have the utmost confidence that our people, processes, and technologies will do just that.”
The months since the Southwest cancellations have seen multiple air travel anomalies. The FAA <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/faa-reveals-more-details-on-system-outage-that-grounded-flights-nationwide" target="_blank" rel="noopener">grounded</a> all flights nationwide early on January 11 as the agency’s Notice to Air Missions system failed; officials later determined that “personnel unintentionally deleted files while working to correct synchronization between the live primary database and a backup database.” A terminal at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/fire-power-outage-at-jfk-airport-causes-delayed-canceled-flights" target="_blank" rel="noopener">closed</a> on February 16 and reopened on February 17 due to a power outage and electrical panel fire.

Holiday travel woes for Southwest Airline passengers.

Southwest Sees Massive Number Of Flight Delays After Technical Issue

Southwest Delays Nearly Half Of Flights After Technical Issue

Southwest Airlines officials confirmed Wednesday that an off-duty pilot flying as a passenger on a flight out of Las Vegas helped take control of the aircraft shortly after takeoff when the plane&#8217;s captain suffered a medical emergency.
Southwest Flight 6013 departed Las Vegas, Nevada, around 6:30 a.m., heading to Columbus, Ohio, when the captain fainted from stomach pain, according to <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/southwest-pilot-suffers-medical-emergency-flight-off-duty/story?id=98073854">ABC</a>. Air traffic control audio obtained by <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/23/us/southwest-airlines-off-duty-pilot-steps-in-medical-emergency/index.html">CNN</a> recorded a flight crew member notifying officials that &#8220;the captain became incapacitated while en route.&#8221;
Chris Perry, a spokesperson for the airline, told <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/03/23/off-duty-pilot-helps-land-jet-after-captain-incapacitated/">The New York Post</a> a credentialed pilot from another airline flying with Southwest entered the cockpit and &#8220;assisted with radio communication while our Southwest Pilot flew the aircraft.&#8221;
According to air traffic audio reported by ABC, the unidentified off-duty pilot notified control tower operators that flight attendants were with the Southwest pilot in the back of the aircraft.
&#8220;But we need to get him on an ambulance immediately,&#8221; the pilot told air traffic controllers, according to air traffic audio.
Airline officials said the pilot re-routed the aircraft to Las Vegas, where emergency health crews stood by to attend to the captain&#8217;s medical needs. Southwest arranged an alternate flight crew to transport the passengers to their destination.
&#8220;We commend the crew for their professionalism and appreciate our customers&#8217; patience and understanding regarding the situation,&#8221; Southwest said in a statement.
Southwest officials did not immediately disclose the pilot&#8217;s condition.
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Southwest told The Post it was &#8220;standard procedure&#8221; to &#8220;request assistance from traveling medical personnel during in-flight medical events.&#8221;
&#8220;This situation just so happened to involve one of our Employees,&#8221; the airline said
The <a href="https://www.faa.gov/newsroom/faa-urges-airlines-pilots-and-others-take-key-safety-actions">Federal Aviation Administration</a> (FAA) has begun investigating the incident, reminding flight personnel of the &#8220;need for continued vigilance and attention to mitigation of safety risks.&#8221;
FAA authorities issued a safety alert amid six runway incidents since January, including &#8220;a near miss at JFK Airport in January, and a Southwest jet that recently came within 200 feet of slamming into an ambulance crossing the runway at Baltimore&#8217;s airport,&#8221; The Post reported.
&#8220;While the overall numbers do not reflect an increase in incidents and occurrences, the potential severity of these events is concerning,&#8221; the FAA said.

US-AVIATION-SOUTHWEST

Southwest Pilot Suffers Medical Emergency In Flight — Off-Duty Flyer Steps In

Las Vegas

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/southwest-airlines" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Southwest Airlines</a> COO Andrew Watterson said in remarks prepared for a Thursday hearing that he and fellow executives “messed up” amid the company’s holiday <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/air-travel" target="_blank" rel="noopener">travel</a> meltdown.
Southwest canceled some 16,700 flights between December 21 and December 31, even as severe winter weather subsided in the days after Christmas. Watterson said in his prewritten opening <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23602424-written-testimony-of-andrew-watterson-coo-southwest-airlines-final" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a> before the Senate Commerce Committee that the disruptions prompted the company to cancel flights so that crews could position themselves to resume normal operations.
“Let me be clear: we messed up. In hindsight, we did not have enough winter operational resilience,” he remarked. “It became clear that, with the storm severely disrupting our Denver and Chicago Midway stations concurrently, we did not have enough resiliency in our operation for the severe effect this winter event had on us.”
Flight schedules for Denver and Chicago Midway, which serve as starting and ending bases for one-fourth of the company’s flight crews, were almost entirely canceled by Southwest in the days before Christmas. The same occurred at other airports across the country as the storm moved east, causing communication between employees to deteriorate amid the chaos.
“This lack of effective communication and coordination resulted in compounding, frequent, close-in flight cancellations, rather than our normal practice of batched pre-cancellations further in advance of departure times,” Watterson continued. “This created an unprecedented amount and frequency of required changes to crew schedules that overwhelmed our crew scheduling processes and technology.”
Southwest previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/southwest-reveals-how-much-holiday-flight-meltdown-will-cost-them" target="_blank" rel="noopener">estimated</a> that between $725 million and $825 million will be lost in the aftermath of the cancellations. The firm reported a $220 million loss in the fourth quarter of last year and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/southwest-airlines-reports-massive-revenue-hit-after-christmas-meltdown" target="_blank" rel="noopener">warned</a> investors that fallout from the company’s holiday meltdown would continue.
Watterson told lawmakers that Southwest would seek to enhance software used by crew members with a $1.3 billion information technology investment. He added that the company has gone “above and beyond” standards created by the Department of Transportation for airlines that cancel or significantly delay flights; customers received reward points amounting to $300 in value as staffers worked to reimburse passengers for meals, hotel accommodations, rental cars, and tickets purchased with other carriers during the meltdown.
“Southwest is intensely focused on reducing the risk of repeating the operational disruption we experienced in December,” Watterson added. “We are committed to running a great operation each and every day, and I have the utmost confidence that our people, processes, and technologies will do just that.”
The hearing before the Senate Commerce Committee occurs as lawmakers file legislation meant to bolster protections for consumers in the wake of the Southwest meltdown. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA), both of whom are members of the Senate Commerce Committee, introduced the Airline Passengers’ Bill of Rights and the Forbidding Airlines from Imposing Ridiculous Fees Act last week.
“Air travelers shouldn’t have to foot the bill for basics like a carry-on bag, a seat next to their children, or even for a sip of water, especially as airlines continue to fail passengers at every turn,” Markey said in a <a href="https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senators-markey-blumenthal-lead-in-introducing-legislation-to-bolster-airline-passenger-protections" target="_blank" rel="noopener">press release</a>. “Our nation’s largest airlines can’t even guarantee consumers that their flights won’t be delayed or cancelled, that their luggage won’t be lost, or that they won’t get stranded at the gate because of overbooking. The status quo won’t fly any longer. We must empower regulators and uphold passengers’ rights so they are treated with dignity before, during, and after their flight.”

‘We Messed Up’: Southwest Executive Testifies On Holiday Meltdown Chaos

Southwest Executive Testifies Before Senators On Holiday Meltdown Chaos

Ed Markey

Richard Blumenthal

U.S. Senate

This article is a companion piece to today’s Morning Wire Afternoon Update. To listen to the podcast version, click <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/morning-wire" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.
Southwest Loses $220 Million
Embattled commercial airline Southwest <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/southwest-airlines-reports-massive-revenue-hit-after-christmas-meltdown" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> a $220 million loss for the last quarter mostly due to the cancellation of nearly 17,000 flights over the busy holiday travel season. The airline is expected to take more losses in the first quarter as well, due to a decline in ticket sales. In contrast, American Airlines posted an $803 million profit for the same period. Southwest CEO Bob Jordan addressed the losses Thursday.
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North Carolina Authorities Warns Of Razor Blades On Gas Pumps
Authorities in North Carolina are <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/razor-blades-found-on-north-carolina-gas-pumps" target="_blank" rel="noopener">informing</a> the general public of a concerning development. There have been razor blades found on the handles of gas pumps at several sites in the state.
 COVID Fraud Abounds 
Fraudsters <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/fraudulent-lockdown-era-unemployment-payments-may-amount-to-60-billion-government-watchdog-says" target="_blank" rel="noopener">may have stolen</a> as much as $60 billion from the various unemployment insurance programs enacted by lockdown-era stimulus bills, according to a report from the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office. Some $878 billion was paid across all unemployment insurance programs between April 2020 and September 2022. “The unprecedented demand for benefits and the need to implement the new programs quickly increased the risk of financial fraud,” the GAO said in a statement.
Brittney Spears Causes Panic By Deleting Instagram
Concerned fans <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/police-perform-wellness-check-on-britney-spears-after-panicked-fans-call-them-over-deleted-instagram-account" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sparked</a> a wellness check for Britney Spears on Tuesday. After Britney Spears deleted her Instagram account, worried fans called law enforcement who performed a wellness check on the star on Tuesday night. A police spokesperson told Page Six later on, “I can confirm that we did get calls into our dispatch, and essentially, I can confirm that we don’t believe that Britney Spears is in any kind of harm or any kind of danger.”
To listen to the audio version of this podcast, <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/morning-wire/id1576594336" target="_blank" rel="noopener">click here</a>. And for more in-depth discussion of the biggest stories of the day, listen to the latest full episode of Morning Wire every morning.

Friday

Friday Afternoon Update: Southwest Loses $220 Million, NC Warns Of Razor Blades On Gas Handles, Britney Spears Causes Panic

Friday Afternoon Update: Southwest Loses $220 Million, Razor Blades On Gas Handles, Britney Spears Causes Panic

Britney Spears

General

Morning Wire

Podcast

<a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/southwest-airlines" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Southwest Airlines</a> reported a $220 million loss in the fourth quarter and warned <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/stock-market" target="_blank" rel="noopener">investors</a> that fallout from the company’s holiday meltdown would continue.
Southwest canceled a high number of flights relative to competitors over the Christmas holidays, even after severe winter weather conditions had subsided. The losses, which will cost investors $0.37 per diluted share, will persist into the first quarter of 2023 as the company experiences an “increase in flight cancellations and a deceleration in bookings” in January and February, assumed to be associated with the disruptions, according to the fourth quarter earnings <a href="https://swamedia.com/releases/release-f30033abc7ead7522c3ea8021c3d5d2d-southwest-airlines-reports-fourth-quarter-and-full-year-2022-results" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a>.
“We have swiftly taken steps to bolster our operational resilience and are undergoing a detailed review of the December events,” Southwest CEO Bob Jordan remarked. “In addition, our Board of Directors has established an Operations Review Committee that is working with the company&#8217;s management to help oversee the company&#8217;s response. As part of our efforts, we are also conducting a third-party review of the December events and are reexamining the priority of technology and other investments planned in 2023.”
Shares for Southwest fell 4.8% on Thursday morning after the announcement; the company’s stock price has fallen more than 12% since the beginning of December.
Southwest reported positive net income for 2022 despite the losses in the fourth quarter, as well as record fourth quarter and full year operating results of $6.2 billion and $23.8 billion, respectively. The company estimates that the number of available seat miles, a metric used by airlines to estimate capacity for revenue generation, would rise 10% year-over-year in the first quarter of 2023. Jordan added that executives are “encouraged” by current booking trends for the month of March and expect “solid profits” for the year.
Southwest canceled some 16,700 flights between December 21 and December 31, according to a <a href="https://otp.tools.investis.com/clients/us/southwest/SEC/sec-show.aspx?Type=html&amp;FilingId=16303107&amp;CIK=0000092380&amp;Index=10000" target="_blank" rel="noopener">filing</a> submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission, which added that the overall pre-tax negative <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/southwest-reveals-how-much-holiday-flight-meltdown-will-cost-them" target="_blank" rel="noopener">impact</a> from the meltdown would settle between $725 million and $825 million.
Executives have sought to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/southwest-gives-disgruntled-customers-frequent-flyer-points-in-aftermath-of-holiday-meltdown" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recover</a> lost customer trust among the thousands of passengers whose flights were delayed or canceled. At least some received reward points amounting to $300 in value; the company has also vowed to reimburse flyers for meals, hotel accommodations, rental cars, and tickets purchased with other carriers.
Difficulties for the company are likely to continue throughout the year despite expectations for profitability. Members of the Southwest Airlines Pilot Association, the company’s labor union, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/southwest-pilots-announce-they-may-go-on-strike-one-month-after-airlines-nationwide-meltdown" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> that a strike authorization vote would occur on May 1 in response to the holiday meltdown and an “utter lack of meaningful progress on a contract negotiation.”
“I think it is best to consider what our customers have been through over the past several years and the past several weeks,” Southwest Airlines Pilot Association President Captain Casey Murray said in a <a href="https://www.swapa.org/news/2023/press-release-sav-announcement/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">press release</a>. “It was the lack of discussion or commitment by our leadership team to rectify these issues for our passengers and our pilots that drove us to make the decision to carry forward on this path.”
Regulators such as Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg have meanwhile exhorted Southwest to reimburse customers quickly; he <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/buttigieg-sends-brutal-letter-to-southwest-ceo-demanding-airline-follow-through-with-reimbursing-travelers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">described</a> the “level of disruption” experienced by passengers as “unacceptable” and warned that his agency would exercise “the fullest extent of its investigative and enforcement powers” to ensure customers are refunded.

US-TRAVEL-SOUTHWEST

Southwest Airlines Reports Massive Revenue Hit After Christmas Meltdown

Southwest Airlines Takes Revenue Hit Following Holiday Meltdown

Stock Market

Members of the <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/southwest-airlines" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Southwest Airlines</a> Pilot Association introduced the first steps to begin a strike one month after the company canceled thousands of flights during the holiday <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/air-travel" target="_blank" rel="noopener">travel</a> season.
Southwest nixed an elevated number of flights even after severe winter <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/weather" target="_blank" rel="noopener">weather</a> conditions had subsided in the days after Christmas. The company’s labor union announced that a strike authorization vote will occur on May 1 in response to the holiday meltdown and the “utter lack of meaningful progress on a contract negotiation,” especially with respect to scheduling work rules and information technology requests.
“I think it is best to consider what our customers have been through over the past several years and the past several weeks,” Southwest Airlines Pilot Association President Captain Casey Murray said in a <a href="https://www.swapa.org/news/2023/press-release-sav-announcement/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">press release</a>. “It was the lack of discussion or commitment by our leadership team to rectify these issues for our passengers and our pilots that drove us to make the decision to carry forward on this path afforded to us by the Railway Labor Act.”
The law, passed in 1926 as the nation became increasingly reliant upon railways, allows Congress to exercise its authority over interstate commerce by preventing strikes in the transportation sector. Officials recently <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/union-allies-turn-on-pro-labor-biden-for-trying-to-prevent-looming-rail-strike" target="_blank" rel="noopener">used</a> the statute to halt a rail strike.
Shares for Southwest dropped 3.5% on Wednesday after the announcement; the company’s stock price has fallen nearly 9% since the beginning of December.
“We believe that May 1 provides a date that allows our union time to prepare and gives our customers time to book elsewhere, so that they can have confidence that their summer vacations, honeymoons, and family outings are assured,” Murray added. “It is not a decision we have taken lightly, but given the trajectory of our current leadership group, we have little faith in the stability and future of our airline.”
Negotiations between the labor union and Southwest Airlines are scheduled to resume on January 24, according to a <a href="https://swamedia.com/releases/release-f30033abc7ead7522c3ea8021c0e1eff-southwests-statement-on-announcement-by-pilots-union" target="_blank" rel="noopener">press release</a> from the company, which said that the scheduled authorization vote is not expected to impact operations.
Southwest canceled some 16,700 flights between December 21 and December 31, according to a <a href="https://otp.tools.investis.com/clients/us/southwest/SEC/sec-show.aspx?Type=html&amp;FilingId=16303107&amp;CIK=0000092380&amp;Index=10000" target="_blank" rel="noopener">filing</a> submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this month. The company <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/southwest-reveals-how-much-holiday-flight-meltdown-will-cost-them" target="_blank" rel="noopener">estimated</a> that the number of available seat miles, a metric used in the airline industry to approximate capacity for revenue generation, was 6% lower in the fourth quarter in comparison to the same period in 2019, marking a 4% decrease from previous forecasts. Total losses from the fallout are expected to cost the company between $725 million and $825 million, a sum largely driven by anticipated revenue losses between $400 million and $425 million.
Policymakers such as Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg have exhorted Southwest to quickly reimburse customers; he described the “level of disruption” experienced by passengers as “unacceptable” in a recent <a href="https://www.transportation.gov/sites/dot.gov/files/2022-12/Message%20from%20Secretary%20Buttigieg%20to%20Southwest%20Airlines%20CEO%20Bob%20Jordan_12.29.22.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> to Southwest CEO Bob Jordan and warned that his agency would exercise “the fullest extent of its investigative and enforcement powers” to ensure customers are refunded. Buttigieg received criticism from lawmakers within the Democratic Party for <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bernie-sanders-ro-khanna-tear-into-pete-buttigieg-over-southwest-airlines-fiasco" target="_blank" rel="noopener">failing</a> to implement new airline industry rules they had previously recommended.

Southwest Pilots Announce They May Go On Strike One Month After Airline’s Nationwide Meltdown

Southwest Pilots May Go On Strike

Labor Unions

<a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/southwest-airlines" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Southwest Airlines</a> estimates that between $725 million and $825 million will be lost in the aftermath of the <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/business" target="_blank" rel="noopener">company</a> canceling thousands of flights during the holiday <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/air-travel" target="_blank" rel="noopener">travel</a> season.
Southwest canceled an elevated number of flights even after severe winter <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/weather" target="_blank" rel="noopener">weather</a> conditions had subsided in the days after Christmas. The company announced a return to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/southwest-says-it-will-resume-normal-operations-on-friday" target="_blank" rel="noopener">normal operations</a> beginning on December 30 and is currently at parity with other major airlines, which resumed normal operations more quickly than Southwest, according to <a href="https://flightaware.com/live/cancelled/yesterday" target="_blank" rel="noopener">data</a> from FlightAware.
Southwest canceled some 16,700 flights between December 21 and December 31, according to a <a href="https://otp.tools.investis.com/clients/us/southwest/SEC/sec-show.aspx?Type=html&amp;FilingId=16303107&amp;CIK=0000092380&amp;Index=10000" target="_blank" rel="noopener">filing</a> submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday. The company estimated that the number of available seat miles, a metric used in the airline industry to approximate capacity for revenue generation, was 6% lower in the fourth quarter in comparison to the same period in 2019, marking a 4% decrease from previous forecasts.
The pre-tax negative impact of $725 million to $825 million is largely driven by anticipated revenue losses between $400 million and $425 million. The remaining loss comes from higher expenses from reimbursements, frequent flyer points distributed as a “gesture of goodwill” to affected customers, and additional employee compensation.
At least some customers whose flights were canceled or delayed for more than three hours received 25,000 reward points, equivalent to approximately $300 in value. “Southwest experienced a unique combination of events that started with severe weather at our busiest airports and transitioned into other operational challenges,” a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/southwest-gives-disgruntled-customers-frequent-flyer-points-in-aftermath-of-holiday-meltdown" target="_blank" rel="noopener">message</a> sent to customers read. “This caused unprecedented wide-scale cancellations and ultimately impacted your trip.”
Share prices for Southwest have fallen more than 7% over the past month as executives scramble to win back the trust of disgruntled customers. Executives in the carrier’s pilot union <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/a-meltdown-a-year-for-the-last-five-or-six-years-southwest-pilots-blast-company-over-crisis-that-was-a-decade-in-the-making" target="_blank" rel="noopener">claimed</a> the elevated number of cancelations arose from “a combination of processes, outdated technology, and infrastructure.” Southwest is unique among other major airlines in that flights are arranged in a point-to-point system rather than a hub model.
Southwest had earned record revenue of $6.2 billion in the third quarter and boasted liquidity of $14.7 billion, exceeding debt outstanding of $8.7 billion, according to an earnings <a href="https://www.southwestairlinesinvestorrelations.com/news-and-events/news-releases/2022/10-27-2022-114539343" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a>.
Policymakers have called for Southwest to quickly reimburse customers and have weighed reforms in airline regulations. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg characterized the “level of disruption” experienced by Southwest customers “unacceptable” in a recent <a href="https://www.transportation.gov/sites/dot.gov/files/2022-12/Message%20from%20Secretary%20Buttigieg%20to%20Southwest%20Airlines%20CEO%20Bob%20Jordan_12.29.22.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> to Southwest CEO Bob Jordan and warned that his agency would exercise “the fullest extent of its investigative and enforcement powers” to ensure customers are refunded.
“While weather can disrupt flight schedules, the thousands of cancellations by Southwest in recent days have not been because of the weather. Other airlines that experienced weather-related cancellations and delays due to the winter storm recovered relatively quickly, unlike Southwest,” the former Democratic presidential candidate wrote. “For many, Southwest’s severe flight disruptions have resulted in missed time with loved ones during the holidays and in being separated for a prolonged period from their luggage even if they never boarded a flight.”
Members of Congress have also taken notice of the cancellations: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) claimed Buttigieg <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bernie-sanders-ro-khanna-tear-into-pete-buttigieg-over-southwest-airlines-fiasco" target="_blank" rel="noopener">failed</a> to implement new rules for the airline industry they had previously recommended, while Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) plans to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/lawmaker-calls-for-airline-passenger-bill-of-rights-after-southwest-meltdown" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reintroduce</a> a “bill of rights” for airline customers that would provide various reimbursement guarantees to those impacted by future flight cancelations.

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