Southwest Airlines is sued for not providing refunds after meltdown

Southwest has been sued by a passenger who said it failed to provide refunds to passengers left stranded when an operational meltdown led the carrier to cancel more than 15,000 flights late last month. In a proposed class action filed on Dec. 30 in New Orleans federal court, Eric Capdeville accused Southwest of breach of contract after a fierce winter storm that swept across the United States shortly before Christmas upended the carrier's schedule. Though Southwest has promised to reimburse passengers for expenses, Capdeville said it offered only a credit to him and his daughter after scrapping their Dec. 27 flight to Portland, Oregon from New Orleans and being unable to book alternative travel. Affected passengers "cannot use their airline tickets through no fault of their own and they are not getting the benefit of their bargain with defendant," the complaint said. Capdeville, a Marrero, Louisiana resident, is seeking damages for passengers on Southwest flights canceled since Dec. 24, and who did not receive refunds or expense reimbursements. In a statement on Tuesday, Southwest had no comment on the lawsuit, but said it had "several high priority efforts underway to do right by our customers, including processing refunds from canceled flights, and reimbursing customers for expenses incurred as a result of the irregular operations." Capdeville's lawyer did not immediately respond to requests for additional comment. <br/>