which is called redundancy and technology. if your system goes down you have a backup that is right there but oh, by the wind use assistant from probably 1985. i was at the airport two weeks ago, were they typing for five minutes when i give them my license? i just want the ticket. they didn t upgrade their systems and so i southwest is going through this. most airlines are not they did not spend the money where this should help request you cannot even say airlines is really just southwest. there the vast majority of flights that have been canceled. the reality is at $7 billion from us taxpayers, from the government. they also made a profit in 2021 of one or $60 million. the first airline to be profitable since the pandemic as well. they had the money they need the antiquated scheduling system was a problem. you of the southwest a pilots association think we have been warning. we have been telling executives this is a problem this is ultimately going to happen and it did. between the
part of looking at the laws around aviation in 2023. i want to ask you about this. southwest has said it will be up and running with minimal disruptions tomorrow. but the pilots association that i ve spoken to quite a bit has been very clear that it had warned the airline years ago to upgrade its i.t. systems, which southwest has said is to blame for stranding thousands of people at airports during this peak holiday season. how can southwest be held accountable? it sounds like weather was only a trigger to the underlying problem at southwest airlines. and that was this scheduling system, this technology that, you know, 20 years ago basic investments and upgrades would have been a good thing to do, but they didn t do. and now 20 years on, we have a disaster on our hands. i think we re certainly going to push southwest to do that. but first and foremost, thinking
southwest nixing another 2,500 flights on top of the more than 11,000 already canceled in the last week. i really hope they figure out whatever the problems are and get back on track. reporter: so what s keeping one of the country s largest carriers from bounce back? industry experts blame a trifecta of bad weather, the airline s outdated scheduling system and the lower cost point to point design, sending planes from one destination to the zion instead of the hub and spoke system. in a point to point system like in southwest you can see a real domino effect of cancellations where if one flight is canceled it puts a lot of future flights that that plane and pilot and crew were supposed to operate at risk. reporter: the airport armageddon no surprise to the southwest airlines pilots association. we have been warning of this for five years. the last two years we have seen more meltdowns, they have been more severe. . reporter: the senate transportation committee promising to
faces more scrutiny as the airline canceled thousands more flights on wednesday creating more nightmares for passengers traveling for the holidays. congress will be investigating the causes of southwest s massive internal failures and nbc s emilia kate has the latest on southwest airlines holiday travel meltdown. as most airlines rebound, tonight the travel nightmare for southwest passengers presses on. they told us the flight was canceled. making up nearly 90% of today s cancellations, southwest mixing another 2500 flight. on top of the more than 11,000 already canceled in the last week. i really hope that they figure out whatever the problems are and get back on track. so what is keeping one of the country s largest carriers from bouncing back? industry experts blame a trifecta of bad weather, airlines out dated scheduling system and its lower cost point to point flight design which
we have tried to get them to change processes. processes. outdated technology and infrastructure. when one domino falls, it creates many other issues. we start each day with enough pilots, flight attendants, ramp agents. customer service agents there to do the job. once one interruption occurs, it s those processes that cause the need for so many more people. that s kind of the official is i and the problem with the processes. lisa: i was reading into this, it does seem to be a total break down on a variety of levels. one point to point system like the way they do flying. and pick up new crew along the way. if one gets messed up it has cascading effect. antiquated scheduling system compared to other airlines. a series of otherrers happened here. the problem is for a lot of these fliers with the way the policies are, it s really hard to bring recourse against a lot of these airlines. the department of transportation, they can implement fines.