Southwest Reports Holiday Meltdown Cost $825 Million

January 7, 2023 Business, Travel

The holiday meltdown at Southwest Airlines last month cost the company as much as $825 million in lost revenue and added expenses, the company said in a government filing on Friday. Southwest, the largest domestic airline in the U.S., canceled more than 16,000 flights over an 11-day period at the end of December, the filing said.

Southwest Airlines this week announced that it would provide each affected passenger with 25,000 frequent flier points, which the company equated to about a $300 value. If an airline cancels a flight, meanwhile, a customer is entitled to a full refund by law, according to the Department of Transportation.

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SOUTHWEST MELTDOWN ✈ — The cost of the service meltdown at Southwest Airlines over the year-end holidays cost the airline nearly $1 billion and will cause the company to report a loss rather than a profit in the fourth quarter. https://t.co/i8FCbFHGvD

— ABC7 News (@ABC7SWFL) January 6, 2023