Senate Republicans pushed back on the prospect of stricter airline rules during a Thursday hearing on the Southwest Airlines meltdown that impacted more than 2 million travelers over the holidays.
In the wake of Southwest’s cancellations, Democrats want to pass legislation to bolster air traveler protections and further empower the Department of Transportation to penalize airlines that book flights they cannot staff.
But Republicans argued Thursday that consumers should be left to decide whether they want to fly with Southwest, indicating that the mass cancellations may not lead to bipartisan legislation from Congress.
“Instead of rushing to regulate prices and how many drink coupons you can get, the Biden Department of Transportation should instead let the flying public vote with their feet,” said Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), the ranking member on the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.
“I’ve had multiple conversations with senior leadership at Southwest and I’m confident they understand it was an epic screw up and that they are committed to doing everything possible to prevent its recurrence,” he added.
Southwest canceled nearly 17,000 flights over the Christmas holidays, stranding countless travelers, after winter storms that upended its scheduling system.
Casey Murray, president of the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, who previously warned that the system wasn’t ready for the holiday rush, told senators that some pilots waited on the phone for 17 hours to find their flight.
Andrew Watterson, chief operating officer at Southwest Airlines, said the company is spending $1.3 billion on technology upgrades, a 25 percent increase from pre-pandemic levels. He told senators that fixes to the scheduling system will be fully implemented on Friday.
“With regard to this event, our crew scheduling system had a particular fault,” Watterson said. “Tomorrow, the fix will go in, it will be live on our production system.”
Democratic senators recently introduced a bill to require that airlines refund passengers for delayed flights and reimburse them for unexpected costs such as food, lodging and transportation. Under the law, carriers would have to pay at least $1,350 to passengers who are denied a seat on an overbooked flight. The bill would also prevent carriers from charging “exorbitant, unnecessary” fees.
That bill doesn’t stand a chance at securing 60 votes in the Senate. Republicans on Thursday argued that a crackdown on fees and overscheduling would lead to higher ticket prices for all travelers.
GOP senators added that the federal government cannot be trusted to fix flight disruptions when the Federal Aviation Administration recently had its own system meltdown that briefly grounded all U.S. flights.
Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), the committee’s chairwoman, said that the Department of Transportation’s consumer protection office needs more resources and manpower to oversee the airline industry.
Cantwell on Thursday shared stories of constituents who spent the holidays in an airport and couldn’t secure a new flight. Those include a Seattle high school basketball team that was stranded in Las Vegas for five days and spent more than $10,000 on hotels and food.
“Mercifully, a friend offered to front the cost of a charter bus and finally, 18 hours later through the snow, they made it back to Seattle,” Cantwell said. “Here’s what really struck me, though, when I talked to the coach and his wife and many other people I’ve talked to: They wanted to know after their flight was canceled, what were the alternatives?”