Southwest Airlines Cancels Thousands of Flights, Expected to Cancel More

Southwest Airlines cancelled thousands of flights Monday and is expected to cancel more, with the Transportation Department now set to "closely examine" the situation.

Why?: The airline was reportedly unprepared for intense winter weather hitting the central U.S. and western New York, especially at its important hubs in Denver and Chicago, and was unable to keep up with customer needs as cancellations and delays piled up. In addition, reports across the spectrum cited crew scheduling issues and Southwest's tendency to schedule quick turnaround times between flights as potential causes for the disruptions.

The Details: Between Thursday and Monday, the airline canceled about 8,000 flights, according to FlightAware. That includes over 2,800 on Monday alone, roughly 70% of the airline's scheduled flights.

Key Quotes: The Transportation Department "is concerned by Southwest Airlines’ disproportionate and unacceptable rate of cancellations and delays, as well as the failure to properly support customers experiencing a cancellation or delay," and will look into "whether cancellations were controllable and whether Southwest is complying with its customer service plan, as well as all other pertinent DOT rules." On Monday night, Southwest's CEO said, "We had a tough day today. In all likelihood we’ll have another tough day tomorrow as we work our way out of this. This is the largest-scale event that I’ve ever seen."

How the Media Covered It: Sources across the spectrum highlighted the disruptions, framed the situation as unacceptable for customers, and highlighted long lines and piles of baggage at airports.