Senators demand answers from Southwest Airlines CEO after holiday meltdown

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Over a dozen U.S. senators sent a letter Thursday to Southwest Airlines CEO Bob Jordan, demanding answers on a variety of issues related to the budget airline's widespread flight disruptions over the holidays.

The letter, which requested a written response by Feb. 2, criticized the meltdown over the holiday season in which Southwest canceled nearly 16,000 flights, calling it a "disaster" and a "debacle."  The senators said they had heard from constituents who "have suffered immeasurably from these cancelations — beyond simply the cost of hotels, meals, and alternative transportation."

It featured a bevy of questions ranging from ones about Southwest’s "outdated" crew-scheduling software to baggage reunification to executive compensation and stock dividends. They also sought information on staffing and the number of requests the airline had processed, granted or denied for refunds of canceled tickets and reimbursements of hotels, meals and alternate transportation. 

SOUTHWEST AIRLINES SUED BY SHAREHOLDERS FOLLOWING OPERATIONAL MELTDOWN

Southwest Airlines traveler looks for her baggage in a pile of lost suitcases after an arctic blast and a massive winter storm dubbed Elliott swept over much of the United States in the lead-up to the Christmas holiday weekend, at Chicago Midway Inte (Reuters/Kamil Krzaczynski / Reuters Photos)

"Although winter storm Elliott disrupted flights across the country, every other airline operating in the United States managed to return to a regular flight schedule shortly thereafter — except Southwest," the senators wrote. "Southwest must take all necessary steps to ensure that this debacle never happens again."

Jordan said in a video late last month that the airline’s "highly complex" network had been thrown off by the storm, with planes and crew members "in dozens of locations" out of position, FOX Business previously reported. Operations returned to normalcy for Southwest on Dec. 30. 

The 15 senators who signed the letter include Sens. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, Robert Menendez of New Jersey, Alex Padilla of California, Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Raphael Warnock of Georgia, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, Ron Wyden of Oregon, Cory Booker of New Jersey and Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico.

PETE BUTTIGIEG CALLS OUT SOUTHWEST AIRLINES IN LETTER, LAYS OUT PRIORITIES

Southwest responds

Southwest Boeing 737 lands at Los Angeles International Airport on May 24, 2018.  (Daniel SLIM / AFP via Getty Images) / Getty Images)

"We appreciate the concerns expressed in the letter from the Senators and share in the commitment to ensuring Southwest’s customers are properly cared for and that actions are taken to mitigate risks of this happening again," Southwest said in a statement to FOX Business.

The company apologized for the flight disruptions and pledged to "restore our legendary Southwest Hospitality and reliability at levels that customers and employees expect from us." Southwest also said it "hope[s] the recent refunds, reimbursements of expenses, and goodwill gestures to our customers and employees demonstrate that we want to go above and beyond in earning their trust once again."

Southwest created a webpage for refund and reimbursement requests, locating baggage and rebooking. It has also sent affected customers an offer of 25,000 extra Rapid Rewards points. 

SOUTHWEST AIRLINES PROMOTES EXECUTIVES FOLLOWING OPERATIONAL MELTDOWN

Southwest Airlines employees assist passengers in locating their luggage after U.S. airlines, led by Southwest, canceled thousands of flights due to a massive winter storm which swept over much of the country before and during the Christmas holiday w (Reuters/Shelby Tauber / Reuters Photos)

Jordan said Jan. 5 that a "vast majority" of luggage separated from its owners have either been returned or are "on their way." He also promised the company would "continue to upgrade the tools and processes" it uses.

The meltdown, the airline said Friday, could result in a $725-825 million loss for the fourth quarter.

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