Southwest Airlines fined $140M over 2022 holdiay travel disaster

NEW YORK - With Christmas just a week away, airline travelers know there’s always an increased risk of cancelations and delays.

"Yes, it can be really bad," said Regina Clancy. 

She and her family came to the Tristate to experience New York City during the holiday season.  They flew home to Orlando from MacArthur Airport on Long Island on Monday, strategically opting not to fly too close to Christmas or New Year's. 

"Right in between, beat it all," she said.

Each year, winter weather compounded by busy airports creates the unpredictability that is characteristic of holiday travel.

Last December a major storm created major air travel issues and there were airline interruptions across the board. Southwest Airlines just couldn’t recover as quickly as its competitors, canceling thousands of flights. More than 2 million travelers were left stranded over the holidays.

Now, the U.S. Department of Transportation is sending a strong message, fining Southwest.  

The airline will pay $35 million as part of a $140 million settlement to resolve a federal investigation into what happened.

"We thought that level was very important to send a signal to industry," said Secretary of Transportation, Pete Buttigieg.

If you’re flying around Christmas and New Year's, this year, you might want to give yourself extra time to make things easier on yourself, because travel experts are predicting busy airports yet again.

"We are expecting record levels of passengers for the Christmas holidays and New Year's," said travel expert and Senior Airline Business Reporter at The Points Guy, David Slotnick.