Lawmakers aim to raise penalties for US airline disruptions

Senators who want to impose tougher penalties when U.S. airlines strand or delay passengers say they finally might be able to turn their ideas into law because of outrage over debacles like the one at Southwest Airlines in December.

Democrats Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Edward Markey of Massachusetts said Tuesday they will again offer a “passenger bill of rights” that would, among other things, allow customers to file class-action lawsuits against airlines, and legislation to limit airline fees.

A trade group for the largest U.S. airlines issued a blistering attack on the legislation.

Both the passenger-rights and airline-fee proposals from longtime critics of the airline industry have floundered in the past, and they lack Republican support so far in the new Congress. But the lawmakers argue that they can succeed this time by attaching their ideas to must-pass legislation to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration.

Southwest canceled 16,700 flights in late December, likely affecting travel plans for about 2 million people, when it took more than a week to recover from a winter storm. Crew-scheduling technology — which got less attention from Southwest leaders than other technology spending — was overwhelmed, leaving planes, pilots and flight attendants out of position for days.

The U.S. Transportation Department is investigating the meltdown, which has made Southwest the butt of jokes on TV shows including “Saturday Night Live.”

The disaster will cost Southwest about $1.1 billion by the airline's own reckoning, but the disruptions accounted for a small part of the 210,000 U.S. flights that airlines canceled in 2022. The rate of cancellations surged 52% from 2021.

“The airlines need to be given some incentives to do the right thing, and consumers...