Southwest Airlines CEO apologizes to travelers over flight cancelation havoc as Senate pledges to investigate

The Senate Commerce Committee will investigate Southwest Airlines after thousands of flights were canceled over the past week, leaving travelers stranded in airports over the holidays. 

"The problems at Southwest Airlines over the last several days go beyond weather," Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., the chair of the Senate Commerce Committee on Commerce, said in a statement on Tuesday. "The Committee will be looking into the causes of these disruptions and its impact to consumers."

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg also said Tuesday he's "made clear" to Southwest's executives that his agency will hold the airline "accountable for making things right with their customers and employees."

Southwest Airlines aircraft flies past the U.S. Capitol before landing at Reagan National Airport in Arlington, Virginia.  (Reuters/Joshua Roberts / Reuters Photos)

Multiple airlines struggled over the Christmas weekend as a winter storm barreled through the U.S., but Southwest has continued canceling thousands of flights this week. 

On Monday, Southwest called off 2,909 flights, representing 71% of the 4,006 flights that were canceled nationwide, according to the flight tracker FlightAware. Another 2,678 flights were canceled by Southwest on Tuesday, and about 4,300 more are already canceled between Wednesday and Thursday. 

Baggage waits to be claimed after canceled flights at the Southwest Airlines terminal at Los Angeles International Airport on Monday, Dec. 26, 2022, in Los Angeles.  (AP Photo/Eugene Garcia / AP Images)

A spokesperson for Southwest declined to comment on the Senate's investigation, but pointed Fox Business to an apology that CEO Bob Jordan issued on Tuesday. 

"I want everyone who is dealing with the problems we've been facing, whether you haven't been able to get to where you need to go or you’re one of our heroic employees caught up in a massive effort to stabilize the airline, to know is that we're doing everything we can to return to a normal operation. And please also hear that I'm truly sorry," Jordan said in a video message. 

Southwest's "highly complex" network was thrown off by the winter storm as dozens of aircraft and crews fell out of position, Jordan explained. 

Travelers wait at a Southwest Airlines baggage counter to retrieve their bags after canceled flights at Los Angeles International Airport, Monday, Dec. 26, 2022, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Eugene Garcia / AP Images)

Sens. Edward Markey, D-Mass., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., both members of the Senate Commerce Committee, said that Southwest shouldn't blame the winter storm for the mass cancelations. 

"As Southwest executives have acknowledged, the mass cancellations yesterday were largely due to the failure of its own internal systems," Markey and Blumenthal said in a statement. "As such, those cancellations should be categorized as ‘controllable,’ and Southwest should compensate passengers accordingly."