Nekouei says systemwide meltdowns at Southwest Airlines have increased in frequency and magnitude over the past 15 years, citing not just the December failures that left Southwest passengers stranded nationwide, but also incidents from years past.Those include a series of “meltdowns” at Chicago Midway International Airport in January 2014, leading to 130 flights there being canceled; a router brownout issue in July 2016 that caused 2,300 flights to be canceled; and an October 2021 air traffic control problem in Jacksonville that led to 29% of Southwest’s flights being delayed or canceled.Nekouei accused Kelly of staffing the company's senior leadership with individuals of similar backgrounds, namely holders of bachelor’s degrees in accounting from the University of Texas.Staffing issues, Southwest's unique plane-routing regime, and outdated technology have all been put forward as reasons why Southwest was forced to cancel two-thirds of its flights over the holiday travel period that included the final days of Hanukkah leading into Christmas Day, and stranding nearly half a million passengers."As CEO, Gary Kelly made a conscious decision to make the less than necessary investments in tech upgrades in favor of maximizing shareholder return because, well, 'our tech’s been working OK for 20 years,'" he wrote."