Department of Transportation ‘looking into’ mass Southwest flight cancellations

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- The U.S. Department of Transportation announced it will "look into" the mass amount of cancellations made by Southwest Airlines over the last few days.

Tuesday afternoon, the UDOT released a statement on Twitter saying Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg had spoken with the CEO of Southwest Airlines to "convey the Department's expectation that Southwest meet its obligations to passengers and workers and take steps to prevent a situation like this from happening again."

Monday, airline tracker FlightAware showed more than 71% of all canceled flights nationwide were Southwest Airlines. That totaled more than 2,900 flights being canceled.

Comparatively, Delta's cancellations sat at under 300, and United Airlines reported less than 150.

At the Colorado Springs Airport, some travelers said not only were their flights canceled, but their luggage was also missing. And for people trying to find alternative ways to get to their destination, Avis, Budget, and Hertz reported being all out of rental cars.

Southwest Airlines said for the next several days, it'll only be flying roughly one-third of scheduled flights.

According to federal rules, airlines are required to rebook travelers and provide hotel accommodations, and ground transportation. However, one Colorado Springs traveler told KRDO she was forced to foot the bill while being stranded in Sacramento.

"I had to take Uber and never done any of that. It's and I'm still waiting enough hours away from my family and stuck in a hotel room, which I have three days. I've paid for. I don't know what I'm going to do after that," said Mavis Ruse.

For now, Southwest is pointing customers toward a newly created website meant to cover travel disruption.

The airline said it's working to resolve the situation as quickly as possible, but didn't provide a timeline for when things will be fixed. Including when travelers could get their missing belongings.

The UDOT said airlines are responsible for compensating domestic travelers as much as $3,800 for lost bags.

Southwest said travelers can submit requests for refunds and reimbursements for travel expenses like rental cars, gas, and hotels.

The Colorado Attorney General's Office told KRDO it's monitoring the situation and is forwarding customer concerns to the Department of Transportation.