WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Transportation said Monday night it will be examining whether Southwest Airlines could've done more to prevent the massive number of flight cancellations on the day after Christmas.
"USDOT is concerned by Southwest’s unacceptable rate of cancellations and delays & reports of lack of prompt customer service," the agency said in a tweet. "The Department will examine whether cancellations were controllable and if Southwest is complying with its customer service plan."
A "controllable" flight cancellation or delay is essentially a delay or cancellation caused by the airline, according to the Department of Transportation's website. Some examples include: maintenance or crew problems; cabin cleaning; baggage loading; and fueling.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has repeatedly challenged major U.S. carriers this year to improve service and transparency after a summer marred by cancellations and flight delays. That included the launch of a customer service dashboard that displays what kinds of guarantees, refunds or compensation each airline offers in case of delays or "controllable" cancellations.
Southwest canceled 2,897 flights on Monday, which accounted for around 71% of its scheduled flights, according to the tracking site FlightAware. It was also about 10 times as many cancellations as any other major U.S. carrier.
Southwest acknowledged the situation was "unacceptable" and issued an apology to its customers and employees. But the Dallas-based airline also warned more cancellations were likely as it tries to get things back to normal amid a holiday week.
As the number of cancelations piled up throughout the day, announcements were made at airport after airport warning stranded travelers it would likely be several days before they could be rebooked on new flights.
What led to the Southwest Airlines cancellations?
Management at Southwest Airlines held a news conference Monday night at Hobby Airport in Houston. Jay McVay, a Southwest Airlines official, said that the problem wasn’t with personnel. He said what started as delays from this week's winter storm turned into cancellations, and once those started piling up, crews and planes were out of place and not in the cities they needed to be.
KHOU 11 and WFAA contributed to this report.