Southwest Airlines settles with DOT for $35 million over 2022 holiday meltdown

Dallas-based Southwest Airlines will pay $35 million to the U.S. Department of Transportation and start offering vouchers to some delayed customers as penance for last year’s holiday meltdown that has already cost the company more than $1.1 billion. The settlement with the federal government comes after a year-long investigation into the breakdown of Southwest’s network last year after winter storms crippled airline operations in Denver and Chicago in late December, forcing the carrier to cancel more than 16,000 flights even as the rest of the industry recovered quickly. As part...