Southwest starts on reputation repair after cancellations

DALLAS (AP) — With its flights running on a roughly normal schedule, Southwest Airlines is now turning its attention to repairing its damaged reputation after it canceled 15,000 flights around Christmas and left holiday travelers stranded.

The disruptions started with a winter storm and snowballed when Southwest’s ancient crew-scheduling technology failed. Southwest on Tuesday told customers whose flights were canceled or significantly delayed over the holidays that they would get 25,000 frequent-flyer points on top of refunds and reimbursement for unexpected costs like hotels and meals.

The airline created a page where customers can submit receipts for reimbursement but executives concede it will take many weeks to process all the requests.

Danielle Zanin is still waiting to hear whether Southwest will cover the $1,995.36 that she spent during a four-day odyssey getting her family of four home to Illinois after their flight was canceled in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Even if she eventually gets the money, it may not be enough for her to try Southwest again.

“It would take a lot for the airline to prove to me that they can fix whatever technology they use to get flight crews and planes where they need to go. It's just not worth the hassle that I went through,” Zanin said. She plans to go back to flying on American Airlines even if it costs more.

Raymond James airline analyst Savanthi Syth estimated that the storm will cost Southwest about $585 million in lost revenue plus the cost of additional expenses. Airline consultant Robert Mann pegged the cost to Southwest at $500 million to $600 million in a mix of cash, vouchers and frequent-flyer points.

Southwest hopes that refunds, reimbursements and loyalty points will persuade people not to switch to other airlines, known...