Following a massive holiday meltdown that resulted in the cancellation of about 17,000 flights and left a large number of passengers stranded, Southwest Airlines promised Tuesday to enhance its winter operations and modernize its systems.
In particular, the Dallas-based carrier intends to increase the number of deicing vehicles, engine covers, and heaters in addition to expanding its winter workforce.
Southwest also announced that it would increase its technological investments, allocating $1.3 billion for maintenance, upgrades, and other costs. In order to accommodate increased call volume, the airline also promised to enhance customer phone systems and staff scheduling systems.
Southwest had a series of issues as a result of Winter Storm Elliott, which brought very cold weather to portions of the country during the busy holiday travel season.
While the majority of airlines quickly resumed service after the hurricane, Southwest encountered problems with old equipment and mismanaged staff, which led to numerous flight cancellations.
At a JPMorgan investors conference on Tuesday, Southwest CEO Bob Jordan stated that the storm made it difficult for Southwest to operate in two of its major airports: Denver International Airport (DEN) and Chicago's Midway International Airport (MDW).
"This ultimately stretched our ability to keep up with the pace and the breadth of the disruptions," Jordan said.
Southwest is still in shock following its December disaster.
According to the airline's most recent statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission, it anticipates a $350 million revenue impact for its 2023 first-quarter results.
That comes after the carrier disclosed a net loss of $220 million for the final quarter of 2022 due to the collapse costing Southwest $800 million in pretax income.
Congress is also looking into the financial crisis. Southwest's executive vice president and chief commercial officer, Andrew Watterson, gave a testimony in February before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Jordan stated that the carrier's booking trends for the second quarter "appear solid" despite the losses brought on by the holiday catastrophe, with demand for leisure travel now nearly resembling pre-pandemic levels in 2019.
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