Southwest starts on reputation repair after cancellations

By DAVID KOENIG
AP Airlines Writer

DALLAS (AP) — With its flights running on a roughly normal schedule, Southwest Airlines is now turning its attention to repairing its damaged reputation after it canceled 15,000 flights around Christmas and left holiday travelers stranded. The disruptions started with a winter storm and snowballed when Southwest’s ancient crew-scheduling technology failed. Southwest on Tuesday told customers whose flights were canceled or significantly delayed over the holidays that they would get 25,000 frequent-flyer points on top of refunds and reimbursement for unexpected costs like hotels and meals. But that may not be enough to lure back embittered customers.