Southwest Hires New Weather Company

Southwest Airlines, which was roundly criticized for its ancient method of operation after melting down over the holidays, is making a small admission that it needs to change.

“We understand the root causes that led to this. Now, we expect to mitigate the risk of an event of this magnitude ever happening again,” CEO Bob Jordan said.

To that end, the airline has hired a new weather company. It’s a small, but significant, concession by the airline as it tries to regain trust from the flying public.

Southwest has hired SureWeather.

“SureWeather is, by far, the world’s largest provider of electronic holdover time solutions. Over 70 global airlines currently implement holdover times and other creative solutions on the flight deck using our platform,” the company said on its website. “We have quietly become one of the world’s largest providers of electronic data solutions for aircraft ground deicing and airport winter operations, and our diverse and global customer base is a testament to the value we provide our partner customers.”

Clearly, the company is trying to put a band aid on its wounds by winning the Court of public opinion.

The flying public that is.

But there’s more.

“Challenges with infrastructure, winter equipment, and winter-weather preparedness have been, or will be, addressed through various actions, including purchasing additional deicing trucks; securing additional deicing pads and deicing fluid capacity at key network locations; and purchasing more engine covers and engine heaters for cold weather operations,” the airline said in a news release. “Going forward, the airline will further augment winter staffing levels — for example, when ground-operations employees are limited to the amount of time they can work outside in extreme temperatures.”