Southwest Airlines Launches Passenger Compensation Program After 2022 Holiday Meltdown

Remember the 2022 Southwest Airlines holiday meltdown? Almost a year and a half later, the airline is changing the way it compensates passengers on delayed or canceled flights.

This week, Southwest is finally starting the Department of Transportation (DOT)-required compensation program that was forced upon the airline after its 2022 holiday meltdown that saw more than 16,000 flights canceled in 10 days.

The airline is now providing travel vouchers of $75 or more to passengers who are delayed at least three hours because of something that Southwest could control such as a maintenance or staffing issue.

 As long as a flight was canceled or delayed within seven days of the scheduled departure date, the delay was at least three hours, and was caused by something in Southwest’s control (note: not bad weather or ATC issues), passengers will have to be compensated.

Southwest had been required to start the program as part of the DOT enforcement action following that 2022 meltdown by April 30, and the airline said it launched it earlier this month and has already issued a few thousand vouchers to passengers.

Per the DOT action, passengers who are delayed three hours by a Southwest issue can now go online to the Southwest website, submit a form within one year of the flight date, and request their compensation. Southwest must respond within 30 days of the submission date as long as all information is filled in correctly and the consumer is eligible.

The vouchers will be valid for at least one year from the date of issuance and are transferrable to other passengers.

“Southwest intends to operate all flights as planned. Unfortunately, sometimes things happen that we determine we can’t control (like bad weather) or we determine we can control (like fixing a plane) that may cause a delay or cancellation,” Southwest says on its voucher page.

For right now, Southwest is the only carrier being forced by the DOT to issue the vouchers. The DOT enforcement will keep the program in place for at least three years.