Pete Buttigieg slammed by senators for not cracking down on airlines
Misty Severi
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Senators on the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee attacked Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and his department for the airline fiasco over the holidays in a hearing on Capitol Hill Thursday.
Lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle called Buttigieg out for the meltdown that left thousands stranded in airports around the holidays, most notably in Denver and Chicago. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) claimed that Buttigieg was not doing enough to hold the airlines accountable and that the Department of Transportation needed better leadership.
SOUTHWEST AIRLINES REPORTS $800 MILLION LOSS OVER HOLIDAY SEASON DISASTER
“This sector needs a more effective policeman on the beat,” Cantwell said. “They need someone over at the Department of Transportation who is going to get the job done.”
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), the committee’s ranking member, slammed the Biden administration, claiming it did not give immediate reimbursements or refunds to the travelers.
“The DOT didn’t give any mea culpa to impacted travelers,” Cruz said, according to the Hill. “The Biden DOT didn’t issue refunds, didn’t issue reimbursements, it just screwed up their flights and then proceeded to say, ‘We want to be in charge of how the airlines behave.'”
The department has rolled out stronger guidelines for refunds, which opponents claim do not go far enough. A spokesperson for the department said the DOT is investigating whether Southwest had booked too many flights over the holidays. If it did, the airline will be held accountable and forced to refund affected travelers.
“DOT will leverage the full extent of its investigative and enforcement power to ensure consumers are protected. The Department welcomes additional congressional support with resources and legislative authority to build on this important work,” the spokesperson said.
Southwest has since apologized for the delays, admitting it had not properly planned for the wintry conditions that affected travel. Southwest ended up canceling almost 17,000 flights in December, affecting over 2 million passengers.
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Buttigieg was not present at Thursday’s hearing. He was in Lake Charles, Louisiana, to celebrate achievements from the bipartisan infrastructure law, including a $150 million grant for the I-10 Calcasieu River Bridge.
The hearing is expected to be the first of several in the lawmakers’ investigation into the mass cancellations.