A Southwest Airlines executive apologized for the company's holiday season meltdown in front of a panel of senators on Thursday.
The airline company canceled nearly 17,000 flights and stranded more than two million customers between December 21 and December 31 following a winter storm, far more than any other airline. The Senate Commerce Committee questioned executives in a hearing that focused on those disruptions.
"Let me be clear, we messed up," Southwest Chief Operating Officer Andrew Watterson told senators. "I want to sincerely and humbly apologize to those impacted by the disruption,"
"In hindsight, we did not have enough winter operational resiliency," Watterson explained.
The Southwest executive assured the committee that the company has been working to improve its systems.
"We are doing a system-wide review of our preparedness for winter operations and will implement any measures necessary to mitigate the risk of an event like this occurring in the future," Watterson said.
The company has budgeted $1.3 billion for 2023 investments, upgrades, and maintenance of their IT systems.
Democratic Senator Ed Markey, unsatisfied with the executive's explanation, demanded the airline company give a "cash hardship payment" to those affected.
Some Republicans, however, were more sympathetic with the airline company.
"I've had multiple conversations with senior leadership at Southwest. I'm confident they understand it was an epic screw-up and that they are committed to doing everything possible to prevent its recurrence," Sen.Ted Cruz of Texas said.
Watterson testified the airline had reimbursed 273,406 customers, and that every impacted customer had been emailed flyer points, along with an apology.
But, the airline company would not pay customers directly for their inconvenience unless it was "reimbursement of a flight they took in the disruption," Watterson said.
The U.S. Transportation Department is also investigating Southwest for its flight scheduling throughout the disruption.
Noel Kinder, chief sustainability officer at Nike, joined Cheddar to talk about the company's role at the COP26 climate summit from Glasgow, Scotland, and the commitment to reducing its own carbon footprint. Kinder also talked about partnering with the company's supply chain to only use products that are sustainable and meet Nike's goal of being a climate-conscious brand. "We've doubled down on that commitment. We know that our foundation that we've created over those decades is really important, and our consumers really care about this," he said.
A Freitag pod with Carlo and Baker, talking about the upcoming federal vax-or-test deadline, the most shocking upset of this week's elections, an incredible story of selflessness and Love, Hate, Ate.
The Chinese government causing quite a stir after urging families to stock up on essentials ahead of winter months amid a global energy crisis and supply chain woes disruptions. Keith Krach, the former Under Secretary of State and former DocuSign Chairman and CEO, joined Cheddar News to discuss.
It's earnings season for the hospitality industry, with Marriott, MGM, Booking Holdings, and Hyatt all set to report on November 3. The stakes are high as investors look for signs that travel is returning after months of pandemic-related disruptions. Hilary Kramer, chief investment officer for Kramer Capital Research, joined Cheddar to explain why the industry still has a long way to go when it comes to recovering from the pandemic.
The Federal Reserve announced it would begin tapering asset purchases in mid-November and that it would keep interest rates low. Stocks hit a record high on the announcement. Dan Eye, Head of Asset Allocation & Equity Research at Fort Pitt Capital Group, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss the Fed news, as well as Q3 earnings season.
Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq hit new highs Thursday, with investors keeping an eye on strong economic data, and tech stocks boosting the Nasdaq. The Dow closed lower, but hovered near a record. Brandon Pizzurro, Director of Public Investments at GuideStone Capital Management, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss today's close, Q3 earnings season so far, and 2022 outlook amid Fed announcements.
