Southwest cancels more flights, draws federal investigation

DALLAS (AP) — Southwest Airlines scrubbed thousands of flights again Tuesday in the aftermath of the massive winter storm that wrecked Christmas travel plans across the United States and the federal government said it would investigate why the company lagged so far behind other carriers.

A day after most US airlines had recovered from the storm, Southwest called off about 2,600 more flights on the East Coast by late afternoon.

Those flights accounted for more than 80% of the 3,000 trips that got cancelled nationwide Tuesday, according to tracking service FlightAware.

And the chaos seemed certain to continue.

The airline also scrubbed 2,500 flights for Wednesday and nearly 1,400 for Thursday as it tried to restore order to its mangled schedule.

At airports with major Southwest operations, customers stood in long lines hoping to find a seat on another flight.

They described waiting hours on hold for help, only to be cut off. Some tried to rent cars to get to their destinations sooner.

Others found spots to sleep on the floor. Luggage piled up in huge heaps.

In a video that Southwest posted late Tuesday, CEO Robert Jordan said Southwest would operate a reduced schedule for several days but hoped to be “back on track before next week.”

Jordan blamed the winter storm for snarling the airline's “highly complex” network. He said Southwest's tools for recovering from disruptions work “99% of the time, but clearly we need to double down” on upgrading systems to avoid a repeat of this week.

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