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Southwest COO to testify in Senate on holiday flight halt
Southwest Airlines Chief Operating Officer Andrew Watterson is scheduled to testify before the United States Congress on February 9 following massive travel disruptions that led to the carrier canceling thousands of flights at the end of December. Southwest's Pilots Association President Casey Murray and Airlines for America official Sharon Pinkerton are also set to testify before the Senate Commerce Committee next week.
Southwest is estimated to have canceled over 16,000 flights blaming severe weather conditions during the holiday season, with the number of flights in the last days of December reduced by about 60%. However, media reports claimed later that the reason behind the cancellations was Southwest's systems being unable to recover from the initial disruptions.