Southwest Airlines announces changes in response to winter meltdown

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Southwest Airlines really doesn’t want to have another meltdown.

Around the winter holidays, Southwest’s operations nearly shuddered to a complete (if temporary) halt as a winter storm and technological slip-ups conspired to cause a cascade of cancellations that ultimately led the airline to intentionally pause most of its flights for a few days. It could eventually cost the airline around $1 billion in lost revenue and passenger compensation payments.

Southwest CEO Bob Jordan now says the carrier is taking steps to make sure that kind of operational catastrophe can’t happen again. At the J. P. Morgan Industrials Conference on Tuesday, Jordan said the airline has developed a “tactical action plan” to upgrade and streamline key parts of the operation.

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“We expect to mitigate the risk of an event of this magnitude ever happening again,” Jordan said in a statement. “Work is well underway implementing action items to prepare for next winter – with some items already completed.”

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Southwest is reinvesting in its operational tech

The airline had already committed to improving its backend technology before the December 2022 incident and was planning to implement a five-year modernization plan.

But, Southwest said, the holiday headaches highlighted how the airline’s systems were unable to cope with a high volume of close-in cancellations, which was a major factor behind the meltdown.

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Southwest expects to spend about $1.3 billion in upgrades and maintenance of its IT systems this year. Crew scheduling software will be upgraded, and the customer and crew phone systems will be fortified to handle periods of high call volume as part of those investments, according to the airline.

Southwest is tweaking how it handles winter flying

Another major factor in Southwest’s winter breakdown was the airline’s struggles to get planes ready to fly after the storm. According to the carrier, it’s investing in more deicing capacity at key airports in its network along with buying more engine covers and heaters to keep planes ready to fly as much as possible.

In addition, the airline said it will hire more staff and introduce new technology to make its deicing operations more efficient.

Southwest is changing the way its teams work together behind the scenes

The airline is restructuring to make it easier for its network planning and network operations control teams to work together in responding to operational difficulties, which it says will make adjustments and recovery-related decision-making more streamlined.

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“I’m very encouraged by the work underway to address the challenges we faced in December. Our operational performance this year has been among the best in the industry, and we’re committed to completing our action items while also running a safe, reliable operation,” Andrew Watterson, Southwest’s chief operating officer said in a statement. “I’m confident in our path forward and truly believe our best days are ahead.”