Southwest Airlines ignores another impending problem

Southwest Airlines LUV has gone out of its way to apologize to its customers for the completely predictable crash that basically shut it down for the Christmas travel rush. The airline belatedly agreed to pay some travelers the costs they incurred when flights were canceled and promised to address their problems.

CEO Bob Jordan said all the right things in a January 17 statement that laid out a slew of improvements the airline plans to make.

“Southwest has a long history of innovation and continuous improvement. We currently have a budget to spend more than $1 billion of our annual operating plan on investments, upgrades, and maintenance of our IT systems. The recent disruption will accelerate our plans to improve our processes and technology as we continue to focus on adding capabilities to bring rapid improvements to you, our valued customers,” he shared.

That sounds good, but several experts and the airline’s own pilots’ association have called the collapse predictable, accusing it of neglecting technology for more than a decade.

“Wide system collapses at Southwest Airlines have increased in frequency and magnitude over the past 15 years.” the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association (SWAPA) shared in a letter.

Now, in addition to its technology problems, Southwest’s management seems ignorant of how its pilots are feeling, and that could very well lead to another major disruption.

Patrick T. Fallon / AFP

Southwest Airlines pilots could go on strike

SWAPA President Captain Casey Murray called for a strike authorization vote by Association members on 18 January. The vote won’t take place until May 1, giving the airline and pilots time to sort out their issue, but moving a “historic action by the pilots’ union comes in the wake of Southwest’s largest collapse and the complete lack of meaningful progress on a contract negotiation, with work scheduling rules and information technology requests in particular, that has been ongoing for over three years.”

Murray made it clear in his statement that the pilots are sending a message not only to airline management, but also to their customers.

“While your Board of Directors and executive officers have had many strategic discussions about timing, I think it’s best to consider what our clients have been through over the past few years and weeks. It was the lack of discussion or commitment from our leadership team to rectify these issues for our passengers and our pilots that led us to make the decision to move forward on this path provided by the Railway Work Act,” he said.

Murray noted that May 1 was a date chosen to give customers the option of making travel plans on different airlines.

“We believe May 1 provides a date that gives our union time to prepare and gives our clients time to book elsewhere so they can be confident that their summer vacations, honeymoons and outings relatives are insured,” he added.

Southwest Airlines management responds

Southwest issued a rather benign statement in response that is meant to assuage riders’ fears (and keep them booking that summer vacation).

“SWAPA’s call for an authorization vote does not affect the operation of Southwest or our ability to serve our Customers,” said Adam Carlisle, Southwest’s vice president of Employee Relations. “We will continue to follow the process outlined in the Railway Labor Law and we will work, with the assistance of the National Mediation Board, to reach an agreement that rewards our pilots and places them competitive in the industry. The union’s potential vote does not hinder our continued efforts at the bargaining table. We are scheduled to resume mediation on January 24.”

The airline and its pilots have been negotiating since October and are currently working with mediators from the National Mediation Board.