Flights froze during the holiday season as Southwest Airlines blames IT breakdown for leaving thousands stranded in airports.
According to a transcript from CNN, COO Andrew Watterson said outdated scheduling software caused extended delays and cancellations.
In the end, Southwest had to schedule crews to flights manually. Watterson described it as an “extraordinarily difficult” and “tedious, long process.”
Why does Southwest Airlines Blame IT Breakdowns?
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CEO Andrew Watterson explained that outdated scheduling software made it difficult to reassign flights during the ongoing winter storm.
Southwest’s crew schedulers frantically tried to match available crew with flight-ready aircraft. However, the Federal Aviation Administration strictly regulates when staff can work.
Watterson said their technology could not match crew members with aircraft. As a result, these factors worsened the airline’s scheduling efforts.
Southwest had planes ready to take off, but the company’s scheduling software could not accurately match them.
As a result, crew schedulers had to reorganize flights manually. Watterson added that manual scheduling made it harder to adjust to potential delays.
“They would make great progress, and then some other disruption would happen, and it would unravel their work.”
“So, we spent multiple days where we kind of got close to finishing the problem, and then it had to be reset.”
He explained that reducing the number of flights by two-thirds gives “more than ample crew resources to handle that amount of activity.”
Captain Casey Murray, the president of the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, said the company has been experiencing these issues for a long time.
He told CNN its operations had not changed significantly since the 1990s. The problems lie in its “phones, computers, processing power, and its programs.”
CEO Bob Jordan acknowledged Murray’s concerns in a message to employees and promised to invest in better equipment.
Jordan said the company would improve its systems. However, “we need to be able to produce solutions faster.”
Conclusion
Southwest Airlines blames IT breakdown for delayed and canceled flights. However, the US Department of Transportation said such issues were “unacceptable.”
The USDOT promised to investigate whether the company adheres to its customer service plan. Moreover, President Joe Biden said, “Our Administration is working to ensure airlines are held accountable.”
The president also asked consumers to check if they could get compensation for the delays as they interrupt holiday travel across the US.