Southwest CEO at Center of Storm After Thousands of Canceled Flights
Southwest Airlines CEO Bob Jordan sits at the center of the storm after thousands of canceled flights during the holiday travel season, even as the company's shares rebounded Thursday amid falling cancellations.
Southwest shares rose 3.7% as the airline canceled just 39 flights Friday. That's a stark improvement from the 2,363 it canceled Thursday—58% of its flights—and the 2,510 it canceled Wednesday.
Less than a month after one Southwest executive called the airline's scheduling system «the best in the world,» the carrier's stock fell 11% in this week's first two trading days as it remained the sole U.S. airline unable to recover in a timely fashion from the blizzard that pummeled the U.S. just prior to and during Christmas weekend. That storm killed at least 50 people across the country, devastated western New York with up to four feet of snow, and canceled thousands of flights.
By early this week, though, flight schedules for all but one U.S. airline had returned to normal. Southwest, on the other hand, has faced unprecedented scrutiny from passengers, airline unions, industry analysts, and members of Congress for its system-wide breakdown—scrutiny that could have far-reaching implications for the company and, in particular, its relatively new CEO.
This week marks the second time in 14 months that Southwest has canceled thousands of flights in a matter of days. In October 2021, the airline blamed bad weather, air traffic control problems in Florida, and staffing shortages for four days of logistical problems.
Last week's winter storm inevitably shut down air travel as it moved across the country. But Southwest's unique approach to passenger service left it unable to recover quickly, analysts and airline unions
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