In the midst of a particularly difficult holiday travel period, Southwest Airlines [NYSE: LUV] is apologizing to passengers for hassles associated with thousands of flight cancellations, the bulk of which the company attributed to poor weather.
Meanwhile Southwest’s pilots blame the airline’s “vastly outdated” software and mismanagement of scheduling and staffing. Many of the resulting problems, the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association said, could have been anticipated if executives had implemented remedies that pilots and other employees have suggested for years.
