Shareholders Sue Southwest Over Holiday Meltdown

Reuters reports:

Shareholders filed a lawsuit against Southwest Airlines Co on Thursday, accusing the carrier of fraudulently concealing problems that led last month to an operational meltdown and more than 15,000 flight cancellations.

According to the proposed class action filed in federal court in Houston, Southwest publicly downplayed or failed to disclose serious shortcomings in its flight scheduling software technology.

The lawsuit said Southwest also did not discuss how its “point-to-point” route structure, which differs from the “hub-and-spoke” structure at other large U.S. airlines, could leave it vulnerable to unexpected bad weather.

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