美国交通部(DOT)宣布，将向西南航空公司(Southwest Airlines)发放1100万美元的信贷，用于支付其因2022年假日旅行期间运营崩溃而欠下的创纪录的1.4亿美元罚款的剩余部分。
交通部在一份声明中表示:“作为向政府支付1100万美元民事罚款的替代，该订单为西南航空公司提供了1100万美元的信贷，用于通过投资1.124亿美元改善其网络运营控制(NOC)的准时性能和完工系数。”更新订单这周。
交通部表示，这一行动将激励航空公司进行投资，以改善其运营和弹性，直接惠及客户。
“这种信用结构允许公众实现航空公司投资的利益，而不是导致政府的罚款，”DOT补充说。
在给美国广播公司新闻的一份声明中，交通部表示，西南航空公司已“同意将罚款的剩余金额投资于直接惠及乘客的系统改进。”
“这是一个比把钱送到美国财政部更好的解决方案，因为受益的将是旅行的公众。该订单不会影响客户退款，”声明称。
拜登政府处以1 . 4亿美元的民事罚款2023年的航空公司——历史上最大的航空公司。
大部分罚款要求西南航空公司升级其技术和程序，以提高可靠性，并对乘客未来因航空公司造成的任何取消或重大延误进行赔偿。
根据罚款，西南航空还需要分三期向美国财政部支付3500万美元——两期1200万美元，一期1100万美元。根据交通部的说法，1月31日到期的最后一笔1100万美元的分期付款不再欠政府。
在给ABC新闻的一份声明中，西南航空公司表示，该公司“感谢达菲部长和交通部团队认可西南航空公司在现代化运营方面的重大投资。在过去两年中，西南航空成功完成了运营转型，凭借行业领先的准点率和无取消航班的完成率，我们的客户直接受益。”
由于2022年假期期间一场大规模冬季风暴袭击了美国，该航空公司取消了超过16900次航班交通部当时说，滞留了200多万名乘客。
除了交通部的罚款之外，交通部在实施处罚时表示，该航空公司同意向客户支付约6亿美元的退款和补偿。
Southwest Airlines issued $11M credit by DOT for remaining fine owed
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) announced that it will issue an $11 million credit to Southwest Airlines for the remainder of the record $140 million penalty it owed over its operational meltdown during holiday travel in 2022.
“In lieu of a payment of an $11 million civil penalty to the government, this order provides Southwest with an $11 million credit for significantly improving its on-time performance and completion factor through its $112.4 million investment in its Network Operations Control (NOC),” the DOT said in anupdated orderthis week.
The DOT said the action would incentivize airlines to make investments towards improving their operations and resiliency that directly benefits customers.
“This credit structure allows for the benefits of the airline’s investment to be realized by the public, rather than resulting in a government monetary penalty,” DOT added.
In a statement to ABC News, the DOT said that Southwest had "agreed to invest the remaining amount due under the fine towards system improvements that directly benefit passengers."
"This is a better solution than sending the money to the U.S Treasury because the benefits will go to the traveling public. This order does not impact customer refunds," the statement said.
The Biden administrationimposed the $140 million civilian penaltyon the airline in 2023 – the largest against an airline in history.
Most of the fine required Southwest to upgrade its technology and procedures to improve reliability and to compensate passengers for any future cancellations or significant delays caused by the airline.
Under the penalty, Southwest was also required to pay $35 million to the U.S. treasury in three installments – two installments of $12 million and one installment of $11 million. The final installment of $11 million, which was due on Jan. 31, is no longer owed to the government, according to the DOT.
In a statement to ABC News, Southwest said the airline "is grateful to Secretary Duffy and the DOT Team for recognizing Southwest’s significant investments in modernizing our operations. 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.”
As a massive winter storm battered the U.S. during the 2022 holiday season, the airlinecancelled more than 16,900 flights, stranding more than 2 million passengers, the DOT said at the time.
In addition to the fine imposed by the DOT,the airline agreed to pay about $600 million in refunds and reimbursements to customers, the DOT said at the time it imposed the penalties.
