Southwest Airlines has 'another tough day' as CEO warns flight cancellations will continue

Southwest Airlines CEO Bob Jordan on Tuesday warned that large-scale cancellations of its flights were likely to continue after the airline on Monday cancelled a majority of its flights and more major cancellations the following day.

Southwest on Monday cancelled 2,909 flights, or 71% of its planned trips. It further cancelled 2,626 flights, or 64% of its flights on Tuesday, according to FlightAware. The cancellations come amid a large winter storm that has wreaked havoc on western New York, in particular. While nearly all airlines were forced to cancel some flights, Southwest was far and away the outlier in terms of the percent of cancellations.

As of press time, there have been 3,088 cancelled flights within the U.S. or with a start or end point within the country, meaning Southwest has been responsible for more than 73% of Tuesday's cancelled flights.

In a Monday interview, Jordan warned in the Wall Street Journal that Tuesday would face more cancellations, saying, "We had a tough day today... In all likelihood, we'll have another tough day tomorrow as we work our way out of this. This is the largest-scale event that I've ever seen."

A previous statement from the airline warned it would experience significant cancellations "for the next several days," according to Fox Business.

The Department of Transportation has since condemned the airline for its "unacceptable" performance, saying "USDOT is concerned by Southwest's unacceptable rate of cancellations and delays & reports of lack of prompt customer service. The Department will examine whether cancellations were controllable and if Southwest is complying with its customer service plan."