Shakedown: Democrats hassle Southwest Airlines, Southwest hires Democrat lobbyist
Timothy P. Carney
Southwest Airlines canceled tens of thousands of flights late last year due to its own faulty systems. This massive failure triggered an investigation by the U.S. Department of Transportation. Did Southwest effectively deceive its customers by scheduling flights in a manner they should have known was unrealistic? Has Southwest refunded everyone every dime owed?
This investigation of Southwest by Southwest’s regulator has been going on for a few weeks. The question is: What are Senate Democrats trying to accomplish with their own parallel investigation?
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Maria Cantwell, the Washington State Democrat, has done her best to make Southwest a public whipping boy with hearings, press releases, and everything else she can do to make the airline feel under pressure. If you wanted to know the purpose, just look at Southwest’s response after Cantwell announced her own investigations:
“Southwest Airlines has brought on new lobbying firepower for the first time in almost half a decade, as the airline weathers new scrutiny in Washington over the scheduling meltdown last month.
“The carrier hired former Rep. Jerry Costello (D-Ill.) earlier this month to lobby on the upcoming Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization, according to disclosures filed over the weekend. The Illinois Democrat, who left Congress in 2013 after 25 years in the House, previously served as chair of the aviation subcommittee of the House Transportation and Infrastructure panel.”
That’s half the point of congressional investigations into companies: to get the companies to play ball with politicians. Specifically, Southwest employed only two former lawmakers as lobbyists, and both of them were Republicans. That’s seen as disrespectful to Democrats.
Lawmakers always want companies to hire former lawmakers and former staff. For one thing, the more you fuel the revolving door, the more lucrative job opportunities await you when you leave office.
One way to think of this move is that Democrats have finally placed a guy on the inside at Southwest. Yes, Jerry Costello is now paid by Southwest, but it’s just as true that he works for congressional Democrats. Costello is a generous Democratic donor himself, but part of his job will be convincing Southwest to give more money to Democratic politicians.
While Republicans and Democrats alike will talk as if they are bugged by corporate lobbying spending, they are really bugged by the lack of it.
Chuck Schumer once scolded the hedge funds for not lobbying enough, and they responded by hiring his banking aide. Congressman Bill Delahunt scolded the tourism industry for not lobbying enough, and so they hired his chief of staff as their lobbyist. Orrin Hatch, in 2000, lectured Microsoft that they needed to lobby more and spend more on politics, and in his last two elections, Hatch pocketed the maximum contributions from Microsoft’s super-sized political action committee.
The Hill captured the sentiment in its piece on Southwest’s lobbying:
“Of the big four U.S. airlines, Southwest has the smallest D.C. lobbying team. Southwest spent $1.1 million on lobbying last year, compared to $4.9 million for American Airlines, the top spender in the industry. Costello is Southwest’s first outside hire since 2018.”
Sen. Cantwell’s Southwest Airline hearings might not get any positive results for passengers, but it has already paid off for Beltway Democrats.