Southwest Airlines is facing investigations from both sides of Pennsylvania Avenue after massive flight delays over the holiday weekend, with nearly 3,000 scheduled flights canceled on Monday alone. On the one hand, President Biden and his Department of Transportation are launching an investigation into whether the company is complying with its customer service plan. On Tuesday afternoon, a powerful Senate committee announced plans to look into the matter.
The rapid escalation of the scandal for the company included a phone call between Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Southwest CEO Bob Jordan Tuesday afternoon.
During the call, Buttigieg said he expected the company to meet its commitments and stressed that if it didn’t, his department “would take steps to hold Southwest accountable,” a Department of Transportation spokesman said. Transportation.
Jordan confirmed the call in a video message Tuesday night, saying he reached out to Buttigieg to share “all the things we’re doing to make things right for our clients.” He said the company’s goal is to return to normal operations before next week, but before then “we have some real work to do.”