Southwest Airlines fined for meltdown that canceled nearly 17,000 flights last holiday season

西南航空公司因在上个假日季导致近1.7万个航班取消而被罚款。

Southwest Airlines will pay a $35 million fine as part of a $140 million settlement to resolve a federal investigation¹ into a debacle in December 2022 when the airline canceled thousands of flights and stranded² more than 2 million travelers over the holidays.

西南航空公司将支付3500万美元的罚款，作为1.4亿美元和解协议的一部分，以解决联邦政府对2022年12月的一项调查，当时该航空公司取消了数千个航班，并在假期期间滞留了200多万旅客。

The government said the assessment³ was the largest it has ever imposed on an airline for violating consumer protection laws.

政府表示，这是有史以来对违反消费者保护法的航空公司征收的最大一笔罚款。

Even before the settlement, the nation's fourth-biggest airline by revenue said the meltdown cost it more than $1.1 billion in refunds⁴ and reimbursements⁵, extra costs and lost ticket sales over several months.

早在和解之前，这家美国收入第四大的航空公司就表示，在几个月的时间里，这场灾难给公司造成了超过11亿美元的退款和报销、额外成本和机票销售损失。

The settlement provides that in addition to the $35 million fine, Southwest will get $33 million in credit for compensation already handed out, mostly for giving 25,000 frequent flyer points each, worth about $300, to affected⁶ customers. The company promised to give out $90 million in vouchers⁷ to future travelers.

和解协议规定，除了3500万美元的罚款外，西南航空还将获得3300万美元的补偿，主要是向受影响的客户每人提供2.5万个飞行常客积分，价值约300美元。该公司承诺向未来的旅行者发放价值9000万美元的代金券。