DOT attorney sought Southwest visit to check on meltdown rebound

The top attorney at the US Department of Transportation planned to visit Southwest Airlines’s headquarters as part of an investigation into the carrier’s December operations meltdown that affected more than 2m people, according to government emails. DOT General Counsel John Putnam detailed a proposed agenda for the trip in a Jan. 1 email to members of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s staff. He called for two days of meetings with various employee groups, including crew scheduling, system operations and customer relations workers. “We believe the trip will be important to see and dig into the details regarding their recovery process and send the right signals reinforcing the extent of our concerns,” Putnam said in the email. The email was among 321 pages of heavily redacted documents released by the FAA Friday, in response to a Freedom of Information Act request. Southwest didn’t immediately comment on whether the visit had occurred or is scheduled. The DOT didn’t immediately respond to email and text messages sent outside of normal business hours seeking comment on the emails. <br/>