Southwest plagued by days of canceled flights

Southwest Airlines began flying an almost normal schedule Friday with fewer than 50 canceled flights, a dramatic turnaround after a week in which thousands of grounded flights had become a daily reality.

Tracking service Flightradar24 showed more than 400 active Southwest flights at one point Friday, compared with about 160 a day earlier. Airports with a large Southwest presence reported no major problems as the carrier scrubbed about 1% of flights, down from about 60%.

The cancellations helped Southwest to reset after a punishing winter storm pushed its computer systems past their breaking point – systems that were designed to help the carrier recover from such disruptions. Southwest found itself with pilots, flight attendants and planes in the wrong places. Crews had to find their own accommodations and faced hours-long waits on phones to speak with schedulers.

In all, more than 15,000 flights were canceled while disrupting holiday plans for thousands of travelers during the busiest travel period of the year.

The fallout will continue for weeks. Airline executives said they would be working through passengers’ reimbursement claims for food, accommodations and alternative travel.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has said his department will ensure Southwest fulfills promises to customers, while congressional lawmakers pledged to investigate.

“We are going to be putting Southwest Airlines under a microscope in terms of their delivering these kinds of reimbursements and refunds to passengers,” Buttigieg said Friday on “The Today Show.”