Trump administration waives $11 million fine for Southwest Airlines' 2022 holiday meltdown

Airlines

Trump administration waives $11 million fine for Southwest Airlines' 2022 holiday meltdown

Published Sat, Dec 6 2025

4:10 PM EST

thumbnailLeslie Josephs@lesliejosephsWATCH LIVE

Key Points

  • The Trump administration said it will credit Southwest Airlines with $11 million from its fine over its 2022 holiday meltdown that stranded about 2 million customers.
  • The Transportation Department in late 2023 ordered Southwest to pay a $140 million civil penalty for the holiday chaos the previous year.
  • Southwest at the time struggled to recover from severe winter weather around the U.S. in part due to outdated computer systems.

In this article

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A Southwest plane and baggage carts at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., on Monday, Dec. 27, 2021.

Elijah Nouvelage | Bloomberg | Getty Images

The Trump administration said it will forgive the last $11 million of a civil fine against Southwest Airlines that stems from the carrier's 2022 holiday meltdown that stranded some 2 million passengers after nearly 17,000 flights were canceled.

The Transportation Department under the Biden administration in late 2023 fined the Dallas-based airline $140 million, though the agency then credited the airline with all but $35 million of that amount because of its compensation to customers.

In an order filed Friday, the Transportation Department cited Southwest's more than $1 billion investments in its technology and operation since the holiday meltdown as reason for the additional credit. Southwest was due to make the last payment next month.

"Southwest Airlines is grateful to [Transportation] Secretary [Sean] Duffy and the DOT Team for recognizing Southwest's significant investments in modernizing our operations," Southwest said Saturday. "During the last two years, Southwest successfully completed an operational turnaround that directly benefits our Customers with industry leading on-time performance and percentage of completed flights without cancellations."

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