Skip to main content

Southwest Airlines hit with huge fine for Christmas IT fiasco

The US Department of Transport (DoT) has revealed details of an eye-watering $140 million fine facing Southwest Airlines following its catastrophic IT outage over Christmas 2022.

The DoT says that the civil penalty, which is thirty times larger than any other previous DoT penalty for consumer protection violations, is the result of “numerous violations of consumer protection laws.”

Two million passengers and 16,900 flights were cancelled during the Christmas and New Year period last year after Southwest Airlines experienced the outage.

Southwest Airlines outage

The trouble came as the Texas-headquartered airline was forced to reschedule flights in the wake of the December 21 storm, which lasted until December 26. By December 27, it was revealed that the company’s operational systems were struggling to keep up with the large number of rescheduled flights, causing headaches for some passengers into the early days of January 2023.

Together with more than $600 million in refunds and reimbursements to passengers who faced disruptions during the “meltdown,” Southwest Airlines will have paid in excess of $750 million for this incident.

US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg commented: “Today’s action sets a new precedent and sends a clear message: if airlines fail their passengers, we will use the full extent of our authority to hold them accountable.”

The DoT said that the fine, which comes almost 12 months after the chaos first began, is based on the examination of “tens of thousands of pages of documents” as well as “several multi-day, in-person audits” and visits to Southwest’s Dallas HQ.

The Department of Transport was particularly concerned that Southwest Airlines failed to provide adequate customer service assistance, timely flight status notifications, and refunds in a prompt and proper manner.

Moving forward, the DoT has ordered Southwest to set aside $90 million in vouchers to cover similar events in the future. TechRadar Pro has asked Southwest Airlines for a comment on the latest fine, but we did not receive an immediate response.

More from TechRadar Pro



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Garmin's new radar-equipped tail light will keep you safe on your e-bike

Garmin's Varia bike radars are some of the most popular pieces of cycling tech around – and now the company has delivered its first rearview radar to have been specially designed for some of the best e-Bikes .   Garmin's Varia range mounts to the back of your bike and broadcasts a radar signal behind you, so you can get visual and audible alerts when something's overtaking you. Even better, the new Varia eRTL615 plugs directly into most e-bikes, with no battery required. Because the catchily-named Varia eRTL615 is also a tail light, it'll also make sure you're visible to other vehicles too, promising to emit a flashing or solid light that's visible from up to a mile away in daylight. To connect Garmin's new radar tail light to your e-bike, you'll need to pick the right Garmin adapter cable (which isn't included). You can buy power cables compatible with Bosch, Shimano, or USB-A terminals or connections, with more info on those available on Garmin...
Post a Comment
Read more

Revolution Software is using their own AI technology to remake Broken Sword

TechRadar Gaming is reporting live from Gamescom 2023 on the latest and greatest developments in gaming and hardware. Revolution Software announced at Gamescom 2023 that Broken Sword would be coming back, with Broken Sword - The Shadow of the Templars getting a full remake while a sixth title in the series is coming in the future too, under the title Broken Sword - Parzival’s Stone .  Speaking to TRG ahead of the announcement, Cecil talked about the studio’s plans for a Broken Sword remake and the sixth title in the series. Cecil is a larger-than-life character, who is able to talk about the studio’s plans with enthusiasm. It even carries a pocketful of stones to illustrate the plans for Parzival’s Stone , but he also talks about how Broken Sword - The Shadow of the Templars would be using AI to upscale.  Cecil wasn’t shy about the studio’s use of AI technology, but he gave a fairly robust explanation of why the game was using it. The AI technology will be used to upda...
Post a Comment
Read more

Hackers steal passwords, emails from hookup websites

Two gay hookup websites have been breached with sensitive and personal user data stolen and sold online, new reports have claimed. The databases, which are now being sold on dark web forums, were taken from platforms called TruckerSucker, and CityJerks. They contain enough personally identifiable information to engage in identity theft , such as usernames and passwords, email addresses, profile pictures, sexual preferences, birth dates, postal addresses, IP addresses, and bios. The passwords are encrypted, but according to TechCrunch, the algorithm is “weak” and could be broken by a more persistent hacker. The silent treatment HaveIBeenPwned founder Troy Hunt, who was tipped off on the leak, described the incident as a “typical forum breach, albeit with super sensitive content.”  However the content includes more than just identity data, as there are also messages users exchanged, including arranging meetings and describing their sexual preferences.  In total, more than...
Post a Comment
Read more