The US Department of Transportation announced that it will waive the remaining $11 million in fines owed to Southwest Airlines. as part of a record $140 million fine for its operational crisis during holiday trips in 2022.
“In lieu of 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 a statement. updated order this week.
The Department of Transportation said Waiving the fee will incentivize airlines to make investments to improve their operations and resilience that directly benefit customers.
Southwest Airlines aircraft sit on the tarmac at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport on November 26, 2025 in Baltimore, Maryland. Airlines expect up to 31 million travelers to fly over the Thanksgiving holiday between Nov. 21 and Dec. 1.
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“This credit structure allows the public to reap the benefits of the airline’s investment, rather than resulting in a monetary penalty from the government,” the DOT added.
The Biden administration imposed the civil penalty of 140 million dollars against the airline in 2023, the largest against an airline in history.
The majority of the fine required Southwest to update its technology and procedures to improve reliability and compensate passengers for future cancellations or significant delays caused by the airline.
According to the fine, Southwest also had to pay $35 million to the US treasury in three installments: two installments of $12 million and one installment of $11 million. The final payment of $11 million, which was due on January 31, has now been waived.
In a statement to ABC, Southwest said: “Southwest Airlines thanks Secretary Duffy and the DOT team for recognizing Southwest’s significant investments in modernizing our operations. Over the past two years, Southwest successfully completed an operational turnaround that directly benefits our customers with industry-leading on-time performance and a percentage of flights completed without cancellations.”
As a massive winter storm hit the US during the 2022 holiday season, the airline More than 16,900 flights were canceledleaving more than 2 million passengers stranded, 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 refunds to customers, the DOT said at the time it imposed the penalties.
