Tag Archives for union.
On Wednesday, Southwest Airlines held a major employee rally. They’re working to support the culture, as they always do, but it’s especially crucial now after the airline’s holiday meltdown and because around one-fifth of the carrier’s employees are new within the last year.
However Southwest pilots used the opportunity to walk out on CEO Bob Jordan.
On January 13, an American Airlines Boeing 777 headed to London taxied on the wrong runway as a Delta 737 began its take off roll. This was nearly a disaster of epic proportions, as the American jet crossed right in front of Delta, and the Delta plane hit the brakes.
The Delta flight stopped less than 1000 feet from where it would have intersected with American’s plane. The transatlantic 777 didn’t follow air traffic control instructions. It nearly caused a disaster. And now the Allied Pilots Association is running interference in the media.
Telling employees you appreciate them is great. Doing so in advance of their protests is great as well. But is it wrong to say that serving chili to people about to work inside a pressurized aircraft might not be the best idea?
On January 24th, American Airlines flight attendants will be conducting ‘informational picketing’ at the airline’s hubs and also in Boston and San Francisco. They’re unhappy with the time it’s taken to get a new contract, and that American Airlines flat out rejects many of the changes to work rules their union proposes.
American, for its part, has been telling cabin crew that on the same day as the picketing they’ll be serving free chili inside the airport instead.
This summer the Supreme Court let stand a 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that said flight attendants based in California are subject to the state’s rest rules.
In Bernstein v. Virgin America the court found that California could require 30 minute meal breaks for flight attendants every 5 hours, and 10 minute rest breaks every four hours.
The Southwest Airlines pilot union sent its members a note in the aftermath of their airline’s meltdown, diagnosing the core issues and challenges at the company. It’s a mix of correct analysis and hobby horses.
Tom Nekouei, 2nd Vice President of SWAPA, mostly dumps on former CEO Gary Kelly, who retired early in 2022, and correctly flags that the company has deferred technology investment for decades.
Southwest Airlines has completely melted down. They didn’t just cancel more flights than anyone else over the Christmas holiday – by a large measure – they’ve failed to recover their operation. They keep cancelling a majority of their flights.
The reasons for this are many. SWAPA, the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, has something to say.
Captain Neil Swindells was elected to head the United Airlines pilot union in a controversial and close vote, where members of the group’s Master Executive Council tried to shut down discussion of his homophobic, misogynistic, and anti-Semitic online commentary.
I wrote, though, that he was unable to represent all of his pilot members equally. And this wasn’t just an internal pilot issue – the head of the pilot union gets a board seat at United Airlines. He was clearly unable to represent shareholders, either.
The Air Line Pilots Association negotiated a new contract with the airline. Seeing pilots at other airlines getting more than they had negotiated they ripped up the agreement rather than sending it to their members. And many United pilots now want a fight with the airline.
But just-elected Captain Neil Swindells is the wrong person to lead them, because he cannot represent the full membership of his union with racist and misogynistic commentary.
It wasn’t surprising to see Kirby personally go down to meet picketing pilots during the airline’s board meeting in Houston. And it was a terrible look to see those pilots turn their backs on the CEO. And then for the union to brag about it!
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
