Southwest Airlines is sued by passenger after failing to provide refunds to thousands of people

A passenger whose flight to Portland, Oregon was canceled last week is suing Southwest Airlines for failing to provide him and thousands of others with refunds.

Eric Capdeville filed a proposed class action lawsuit against the Texas-based airline on December 30 in New Orleans federal court, claiming the airline breached its contract with passengers and owes them full refunds for their scrapped flights.

He says he and his daughter were scheduled to fly to Portland on December 27, but his flight was among the more than 15,000 canceled amid a holiday rush, when Southwest's outdated technology could not keep up with its crews' rapidly-changing schedules in the aftermath of a massive winter storm.

Capdeville argues that under Southwest's own policy, he is entitled to a full refund, as the flight was canceled 'through no fault of his own' — but he and thousands of others were only offered credit for another flight.

A stranded passenger holds her 14-month-old daughter as she waits with family members at the Southwest terminal at the Los Angeles International Airport on December 27

The budget airline only operated one-third of its scheduled flights last week due to operational issues

Capdeville, a Marrero, Louisiana resident, is now seeking damages for passengers on Southwest flights canceled since December 24, and who did not receive refunds or expense reimbursements.

He argues in court documents obtained by DailyMail.com that Southwest's Contract of Carriage 'mandates refunds' when flights are canceled by the airline 'as well as full compensation for incurred costs and resultant cancellations.'

'Southwest's failure to provide prompt refunds for canceled flights violates not only its own Contract of Carriage, but also federal law,' the lawsuit claims.

Capdeville says in the suit that he purchased two tickets from New Orleans to Portland, Oregon for himself and his daughter, which included a connecting flight to Phoenix, Arizona through Southwest.

But when the day of the scheduled flight arrived, he learned of the massive cancelations on Southwest Airlines — and discovered his was on the list and there were no other flights he could take.

'Despite the fact that Plaintiff could not take the flight he booked, and Defendant could not offer any comparable accommodations on another flight, Plaintiff was not given a refund, but was only offered a credit for use on a future flight.

Travelers waded through the south security checkpoint in Denver International Airport last Tuesday amid the widespread cancelations

'His reservations and stay in Portland would be lost without reimbursement,' the suit says.

It adds that he and all of the other passengers whose flights were canceled 'cannot use their airline tickets through no fault of their own and they are not getting the benefit of their bargain with Defendant.'

A spokesperson for Southwest Airlines declined to comment on the lawsuit, but said: 'There are several high priority efforts underway to do right by our customers, including processing refunds from cancelled flights, and reimbursing customers for expenses incurred as a result of the irregular operations.

'We have a long and proud 51-year history of delivering on our Customers’ expectations and we are committed to the all-important imperative of taking care of them during operational disruptions.'

It has previously said it would reimburse affected passengers for reasonable expenses such as last-minute hotel, rental car and dining costs, but it might take several weeks.

It remains unclear whether any other passengers will join in on the class action suit. 

Thousands of people have been affected by the travel chaos. It is unclear whether any others will join in n the class action suit. Pictured - Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport

The massive cancelations last week left passengers and crew members stranded at airports across the country.

Among those whose plans were upended by the mass cancelations was Katie Demko, a bride-to-be who was forced to miss out on her over $70,000 wedding day. 

She was scheduled to meet her fiancé Michael in Belize for a destination wedding on December 30. 

However, after arriving at the airport last Tuesday with friends and family in tow she learned that her flight had been canceled as there weren't enough flight attendants on call and there was no way of getting another outbound plane. 

Meanwhile, her husband-to-be made it to Belize on another airline with his mother and other family members - leaving the couple stranded more than 2,000 miles apart. 

Demko told CNN that she was left crying all morning as travel agents could find no alternative travel plans. 

Her friends also tried offering her their tickets as they were flying on the Wednesday, but the airline was unable to switch the names and alter the bookings.

Recalling the chain of events, the mother-of-three said: 'Michael's there without a bride - its hard to get married without your bride there.

'It was very important for Michael and I to have our kids with us as well as our family to be there for this time.'

While the financial impact was a blow, Demko said that the whole drama had greater repercussions. 

She explained: 'Yes there's definitely a cost associated but more importantly we have so many of my family and so many of my friends that put so much time, emotion [and] excitement for this day. We are just devastated.' 

Katie Demko, from St Louis, was due to meet her fiancé Michael in Belize for a destination wedding on December 30 but her flight was canceled

The happy couple, pictured here, were due to tie the knot in Belize with friends and family in tow but their plans fell apart due to travel chaos 

Meanwhile, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said he met with unions representing Southwest pilots and flight attendants, and said they told him crew members were also in a 'terrible situation.'

'They're frustrated and often stranded, and they themselves are often sleeping in airports so you have a company that's got a lot of cleaning up to do,' Buttigieg said in an interview on CNN.

He noted he had also spoken with Southwest's CEO Bob Jordan, who had pledged that the airline would proactively offer hotel and restaurant vouchers for stranded passengers, many of whom had to wade through lines of luggage to find their belongings.

Passengers were stuck in airports across the country during the travel chaos

The disruptions left thousands of passengers without their luggage. A Southwest Airlines employee is pictured looking for an unclaimed bag last Thursday

Passengers had to wade through mounds of luggage to find their belongings

In a video statement, Jordan publicly apologized to customers and employees.

'We're doing everything we can to return to a normal operation,' said Jordan, who called the fiasco a 'giant puzzle is taking us several days to solve'. 

He blamed the fiasco on Southwest's unique carrier model, which relies on rolling hubs and a point-to-point network rather than the hub-and-spoke system used by other airlines.

'Our network is highly complex and the operation of the airline counts on all the pieces, especially aircraft and crews remaining in motion to where they're planned to go,' he said.

'We're doing everything we can to return to a normal operation,' said Jordan, who called the fiasco a 'giant puzzle is taking us several days to solve'.

Jordan added: 'With our large fleet of airplanes and flight crews out of position in dozens of locations, and after days of trying to operate as much of our full schedule across the busy holiday weekend, we reached a decision point to significantly reduce our flying to catch up.'

He said he was in contact with the US Department of Transportation and had 'reached out' to Buttigieg himself.

In a video statement, Jordan publicly apologized to customers and employees

Southwest hubs in Denver and Chicago have been hit particularly hard by the deluge of cancelations as the company extends self-service options for customers to rebook flights. 

Meanwhile, some airlines have begun capping prices on travel to and from select cities as struggling Southwest passengers desperately try to rebook their flights.

CNN reported that United and American Airlines will implement the price cap in order to help stranded passengers make it to their destinations.

The price cap notification from American arrived as frustrated passengers posted screenshots of domestic flights skyrocketing to more than $2,000 as they attempted to rebook their travel.

'We're doing our part to help get people where they need to be and we're putting a cap on fares for select cities,' tweeted American.

Southwest hubs in Denver and Chicago have been hit particularly hard by the deluge of cancelations. Passengers are pictured here in Chicago on December 28

An exasperated couple is pictured here trying to find their luggage at Chicago's Midway Airport last week

A Salt Lake City police officer and his K-9 partner inspected unclaimed bags

But by Friday, the carrier largely restored operations, with Jordan starting off the day telling Good Morning America the airline was 'off to a great start.'

'I'm watching the stats and we've launched the East Coast and have a great operation under way. It's our full schedule, 3,900 plus flights,' Jordan said. 'I'm very confident we'll operate a really tight operation today.'

At the same time, though, Jordan dodged questions regarding calls for his resignation, and said the company was committed to learning from its mistakes. 

'There will be a lot of lessons learned in terms of what we can do to make sure this never happens again because this needs to never happen again.'  

And Jordan danced around the question of what exactly went wrong at the airline, only attributing the chaos to an 'unprecedented storm' that hit the nation over the holiday weekend, affecting 23 of Southwest's top 50 travel destinations. 

'We had record temperatures that did so many things like froze jetways, froze aircrafts, froze the icing fluid,' Jordan told GMA.

'Solving this problem becomes very daunting.

We have great tools, but this is something we have never seen in our 51 years.' 

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg (pictured) said he would investigate the airline 

The Department of Transportation has said it would open an investigation into 'Southwest's unacceptable rate of cancellations' and whether the airline was meeting its legal obligations to stranded customers.

On December 29, Buttigieg even sent a letter to Jordan once again calling the disruptions 'unacceptable' and saying federal law requires refunds when carriers cancel flights unless passengers accept rebooking.

President Joe Biden also weighed in as desperate passengers were forced to sleep in terminals surrounded by growing mounds of lost luggage.

'Thousands of flights nationwide have been canceled around the holidays. Our Administration is working to ensure airlines are held accountable,' he wrote on Twitter.  

Meanwhile, in Congress, the Senate Commerce Committee also promised an investigation, with two Senate Democrats called on Southwest to provide 'significant' compensation for stranded travelers, saying that the airline has the money because it plans to pay $428 million in dividends next month.