Southwest's Holiday Chaos Will Affect Q4 Earnings: Report

  • Southwest Airlines Co LUV holiday flight schedule chaos will reportedly affect its fourth-quarter earnings.
  • The carrier will take many weeks to dispose of the reimbursement requests of the affected passengers, CNBC reported, citing company executives.
  • The low-cost carrier has been messing with its flight operations when the holidays kicked off, stating the winter blizzard affected its schedules.
  • The gaffe drew the transportation department's ire, with U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg calling the chaos a "system failure."
  • Southwest had reportedly canceled 2,300 flights on Thursday and 39 flights on Friday.
  • "We have all hands on deck and tested solutions in place to support the restored operation. I'm confident, but I'm also cautious," the report cited CEO Bob Jordan in a staff memo.
  • Also Read: Southwest Goes Sideways: Should CEO Resign? Benzinga Twitter Followers Chime In
  • Strong winds that intensified into a cyclone during the Christmas holiday weekend played havoc with people's traveling plans across the U.S. during Christmas holidays.
  • The storm led to power outages and flight cancellations.
  • While the other carriers bounced back, Southwest was responsible for almost three-fourths of cancellations in the U.S.
  • Price Action: LUV shares are trading lower by 0.54% at $33.20 in premarket on the last check Friday.
  • Photo Via Company
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