Southwest Airlines on Monday canceled more than two-thirds of its flights and plas to do the same on Tuesday and Wednesday, CEO Bob Jordan told The Wall Street Journal Monday night.
Southwest saw thousands of customers stranded in the winter storm even as other airlines resumed flights.
“We had a tough day today. In all likelihood we’ll have another tough day tomorrow as we work our way out of this,” Jordan said. “This is the largest scale event that I’ve ever seen.”
Southwest plans to run one-third of its normal schedule to allow for crews to get into the right positions, he said. The reduced schedule could be extended if needed, he added.
"Southwest plans to operate about 1,500 flights per day through Friday as it works to sort out its network," tweeted Business Insider reporter David Slotnick. "It also plans to zero-out inventory, making it so people can’t buy tickets or rebook onto flights that may eventually be canceled."
The U.S. Transportation Department (USDOT) said late on Monday it would examine the large number of Southwest canceled and delayed flights in recent days to determine if they were in the airline's control, calling them "unacceptable."
Southwest canceled 2,886 flights on Monday, or 70% of scheduled flights, after canceling 48% on Sunday, according to flight tracking website FlightAware. It has also already canceled 60%, or more than 2,400, of its planned Tuesday flights.
"USDOT is concerned by Southwest Airlines’ disproportionate and unacceptable rate of cancellations and delays as well as the failure to properly support customers experiencing a cancellation or delay," the department said.
It said it would "closely examine whether cancellations were controllable and whether Southwest is complying with its customer service plan as well as all other pertinent DOT rules."
Southwest delayed 48% of flights on Sunday and 16% on Monday.
Other major U.S. airlines suffered significant cancellations in recent days but not nearly at as high rates as Southwest and they have now largely recovered.
USDOT on Monday pointed to Southwest Airlines customer service plan, which notes the airline will provide meal or hotel vouchers for extended delays that are due to issues within the airline's control but not for unforeseen issues like weather.
In August, major U.S. airlines including Southwest told USDOT they would commit to provide meals for customers delayed by three hours and hotel rooms for stranded passengers if prompted by issues under the airlines' control.
Many airlines have previously offered vouchers or hotel rooms for delays they caused but did not spell out all commitments in customer service plans.
Newsmax staffer Jack Gournell contribued.