With Only Dozens of Cancellations on Friday, Southwest Steps Closer to Normal

Southwest Airlines appeared set to return to its normal schedule on Friday after a week of canceled flights.

Only 39 of Southwest's flights had been canceled as of Friday morning. It's normal for a small number of flights to be canceled each day, but if there were any last-minute problems, the number of canceled flights would be much higher.

The company said in a statement that it would be back to normal on Friday.

Even our deepest apologies to our customers, to our employees, and to all affected through this disruption only go so far.

A major winter storm last week forced many flights to be canceled during one of the busiest travel weeks of the year. Other airlines were able to recover in a day or two, but Southwest was not.

Almost half of Southwest's flights were canceled on Christmas Day. The number went up to 2,908 on Monday, and stayed above 2,300 for the rest of the week.

Thousands of passengers were left with nightmare scenarios of not being able to contact customer service. Sleeping on airport terminal floors, missing Christmas plans with family, and renting cars to drive more than 10 hours home are just some of the things passengers have said.

Southwest's route model makes it hard to put staff in place to restart operations after a disruption. Read more about the cause of the problem.

How to win back customers, restore reputation and prevent debacles in the future are some of the questions facing Southwest. On Thursday, the company said it would be investing in new solutions to manage disruptions, but did not give any details.

Increased federal scrutiny will challenge it. Pete Buttigieg, the transportation secretary, wrote a letter to Bob Jordan, Southwest's chief executive, saying the disruption was unacceptable. The transportation department must hold Southwest's CEO accountable for his greed and incompetence, according to Sen.Bernie sanders.

The company will have to pay a lot of money in compensation as it sorts through how many customers were affected and what meals, hotel bookings and alternate transportation will be reimbursed.