Southwest’s Canceled Flights Draw Federal Scrutiny

ATLANTA — Federal scrutiny is growing. The chief executive is apologizing to customers.

And as the meltdown at Southwest Airlines, one of the worst that industry observers have seen in decades, entered yet another day on Wednesday, irate customers remained stranded, separated from their families and some still carrying Christmas gifts they planned to deliver days ago.

There was no relief early Wednesday: Southwest had canceled more than 2,500 flights, or 62 percent of its planned flights for the day, according to FlightAware, a flight-tracking service. The company has said it could be days until the knots are untangled and normal service resumes.

“I’m not mad at them,” said Tearsa Aisani Parham, standing in a winding line at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport’s North Terminal on Tuesday afternoon, hoping to find a Southwest employee willing to listen. “I’m mad at the way they did it.”

Southwest’s operational configuration, which differs from most other major carriers, has come under intense scrutiny after a winter storm last week disrupted travel plans across the United States. While other airlines canceled flights during the storm but soon regained their footing, Southwest has been uniquely unable to get its planes back in the air, while thousands of customers have been left stranded and struggling to rebook.

Pete Buttigieg, the transportation secretary, said in an interview on “NBC Nightly News” on Tuesday that it was “an unacceptable situation” that would demand a closer look at Southwest’s scheduling system.

“We all understand that you can’t control the weather,” he said, adding that “this has clearly crossed the line from what is an uncontrollable weather situation to something that is the airline’s direct responsibility.”

Senator Maria Cantwell, chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, said in a statement on Tuesday that the committee would be investigating the causes of the meltdown, and that “the problems at Southwest Airlines over the last several days go beyond weather.”

“Many airlines fail to adequately communicate with consumers during flight cancellations,” she said. “Consumers deserve strong protections, including an updated consumer refund rule.”

Southwest’s chief executive, Bob Jordan, apologized to customers in a video on Tuesday night, saying that the “giant puzzle” of staffing could take days to solve.

“Our plan for the next few days is to fly a reduced schedule and…