White House Under Fire For Handling Of Southwest Airlines’ Holiday ‘Meltdown’
December 30, 2022 by Marissa Matozzo
Southwest Airlines made countless headlines this week after cancelling more than 2,500 flights on Wednesday, after much of the United States was covered with snow from a massive winter storm.
As reported by flight tracking website FlightAware, this amounted to 62% of the day’s total flights— with many on Twitter and elsewhere deeming the situation to be a holiday ‘meltdown’ with customers who planned to fly that day left stressed and stranded.
Many Twitter users and politicians continue to urge President Biden, The White House— and particularly Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg— to hold Southwest Airlines accountable for this.
Buttigieg sat down for an interview with ABC News this week, and deemed the wave of flight cancellations at Southwest Airlines to be a “shocking and unacceptable level of disruption.”
Senator Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., the chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, also told the publication that the problems at Southwest Airlines “go beyond weather.”
On Twitter, Buttigieg and The White House are facing pressure from both Democrat and GOP elected officials as well as political activists who are stressing the importance of holding Southwest Airlines accountable, and helping affected customers receive full refunds for the fiasco.
Senator Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., tweeted Wednesday, “Southwest’s flight delays & cancellations are beyond unacceptable,” adding, “This is a company that got a $7 billion taxpayer bailout & will be handing out $428 million in dividends to their wealthy shareholders.”
Sanders went on, “The Department of Transportation must hold Southwest’s CEO accountable for this greed and incompetence.”
National co-chair of Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign, Nina Turner, said one major problem had to do with Buttigieg’s overwhelming ambitions for higher office.
“What’s happening with the railroads, airlines & the supply chain is a result of a small city mayor being made the Secretary of Transportation as a means to pad his resume for President,” she tweeted on Tuesday. “Secretary Buttigieg is a prime example of failing up.”