A Southwest Airlines pilot suspected of being drunk was removed from the cockpit and arrested just before takeoff Wednesday at a Georgia airport, according to airline officials and authorities in the state.

Authorities say an airline pilot who seemed to smell like alcohol was making pre-flight checks in the cockpit when police arrested him on a DUI charge.

The DOT filed a lawsuit against Southwest Airlines, citing a pattern of chronic delays, as the government pushes for stricter accountability.

A Southwest Airlines pilot was removed from the cockpit ahead of a Wednesday flight from Georgia to Chicago and was booked on a charge of driving under the influence, a source familiar with the incident told CBS News.

The Department of Transportation is suing the airline for what it characterized as months of "chronically delayed" flights — those that arrive at least 30 minutes late more than half the time.

A pilot on a Southwest Airlines flight was walked off the flight by police officers and arrested for allegedly showing up for the flight intoxicated. David Paul Allsop, 52, was arrested by airport police in Savannah just before he was supposed to pilot a Southwest flight from Savannah/Hilton Head Airport in Georgia to Chicago-Midway on Wednesday morning.

The lawsuit alleges Southwest illegally operated chronically delayed flights and disrupted passengers' travel plans.

Key Takeaways Southwest Airlines stock fell Thursday after the Department of Transportation sued the airline over a pair of "chronically delayed flights."The federal agency says Southwest operated two flights in 2022 that arrived later than scheduled more than half the time for five consecutive months.

Two popular low-cost airlines are the latest to be held accountable by the U.S. government over chronically late flights. Southwest Airlines and Frontier Airlines are both facing legal actions by the Department of Transportation for operating flight schedules the government says were notoriously late.