Southwest Airlines is in the hot seat with the department of transportation after their 2022 holiday meltdown. On 12/18/2023 the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) announced a civil penalty totaling $140 million against Southwest Airlines citing numerous violations of consumer protection laws during and after their 2022 operational meltdown.
A Historic Penalty
According to the DOT the penalty is 30 times larger than any previous DOT penalty for consumer protection violations. In all, Southwest Airlines will pay over $750 million allocating refunds, reimbursements or future compensation. Some deficient areas that the DOT outlined with Southwest Airlines includes failing to provide adequate customer service assistance, failing to provide prompt flight status notifications and failure to provide refunds in a prompt and proper manner.
Implementing Changes
As part of the DOT enforcement actions Southwest is to reserve $90 million in vouchers for future Southwest customers impacted by controllable cancellations and significant delays. If Southwest causes a passenger to arrive at their destination three hours or more after their original scheduled arrival time due to an issue within Southwest’s control, Southwest is required to provide each passenger with a transferrable $75 voucher for future use.
Here are some resources on what rights a passenger has in the event their flight is delayed or canceled: