A Southwest Airlines plane and baggage cart at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, Monday, December 27, 2021.
Ilya Nouberge | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The Trump administration announced it would waive the last $11 million in civil fines against the United States. southwest airlines This comes after the airline’s 2022 holiday meltdown resulted in about 17,000 flights being canceled and about 2 million passengers stranded.
The Department of Transportation under the Biden administration fined the Dallas-based airline $140 million in late 2023, but the agency later admitted it had paid the airline all but $35 million of that amount to compensate customers.
In an order filed Friday, the Department of Transportation cited Southwest Airlines’ investment of more than $1 billion in its technology and operations since the holiday meltdown as the reason for the additional loan. Southwest was scheduled to make its final payment next month.
“Southwest Airlines is grateful to Secretary of Transportation (Sean) Duffy and the Department of Transportation team for recognizing Southwest Airlines’ significant investment in modernizing our operations,” Southwest Airlines said Saturday. “Over the past two years, Southwest Airlines has successfully completed a restructuring that directly benefits our customers with industry-leading on-time performance and percentage of flights completed without cancellations.”
