A Southwest plane and baggage carts at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., on Monday, Dec. 27, 2021.
Elijah Nouvelage | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The Trump administration said it would forgive the last $11 million of a civil superb against Southwest Airlines that stems from the carrier’s 2022 holiday meltdown that stranded some 2 million passengers after nearly 17,000 flights were canceled.
The Transportation Department under the Biden administration in late 2023 fined the Dallas-based airline $140 million, though the agency then credited the airline with all but $35 million of that quantity due to its compensation to customers.
In an order filed Friday, the Transportation Department cited Southwest’s greater than $1 billion investments in its technology and operation because the holiday meltdown as reason for the extra credit. Southwest was because of make the last payment next month.
“Southwest Airlines is grateful to [Transportation] Secretary [Sean] Duffy and the DOT Team for recognizing Southwest’s significant investments in modernizing our operations,” Southwest said Saturday. “In the course of the last two years, Southwest successfully accomplished an operational turnaround that directly advantages our Customers with industry leading on-time performance and percentage of accomplished flights without cancellations.”
