Southwest Airlines was fined a record $140 million over its December 2022 holiday debacle in which severe weather led to almost 17,000 flights being canceled and around 2 million passengers left stranded, the federal government announced Monday. The Department of Transportation fine is about 30 times larger than the agency’s previous biggest penalty to an airline over consumer protection violations. Southwest will pay $35 million of the fine to the government and will create a $90 million compensation system in future travel vouchers for passengers impacted by a “controllable” delay or cancellation. “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,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement. He added that the fine would help “ensure that a meltdown like this never happens again.”
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