![]() 27 in Dallas, Houston and other major flight attendant bases. The informational protests are set for Sept. “We are having to tell our customers we’re sorry constantly and we are right there with them.” “We are still having issues from before the pandemic and, at this point, we are saying that we can wait no longer,” said Lyn Montgomery, president of the 14,600-member Transport Workers Union Local 556, which represents flight attendants. Southwest Airlines flight attendants say they plan to picket against the company in September at Dallas Love Field and a handful of other airports across the country, echoing ongoing frustrations from pilots, ramp workers and customer service workers about working conditions.Īfter the union for Southwest Airlines’ pilots picketed at Dallas Love Field in June, flight attendants say they are frustrated after more than three years of contract negotiations and ongoing problems with scheduling, delays, cancellations and getting hotels and transportation during trips. We voluntarily pick up as much flying as we can to make sure that those passengers, our guests on the airplane, get to where they want to be as safely and efficiently as possible.Southwest Airlines flight attendants plan to picket as labor strife heats up "Our pilots and all our frontline employees will do everything that we can to make sure that their travel experiences is satisfactory. ![]() Murray has a message for passengers and workers amid the ongoing struggles throughout the busy summer travel season. 7 to address staffing issues.Īmerican Airlines pilots have already demonstrated at DFW Airport this year. and Latin America, affecting travel from July 1 to Aug. In the letter, Delta pilots said they've been working on days off and pulling in more overtime in 2022 than all of 20 combined, which were their busiest years to date.ĭelta recently announced it was canceling some 100 daily departures from destinations in the U.S. Last Thursday, Delta Airlines published an open letter to customers who are frustrated by flights delays and cancellations. The SWA pilots are not alone in their protests. "Our contract that we're in negotiations for does that, it also allows Southwest to go out and hire - in a very competitive market - the best pilots." And if they're going to go out and and execute the schedule that is most profitable - because we've seen them reduce the schedule pretty much every month for a little more than a year - we want to see them go out and capture as much revenue as they can," said Murray. It addresses a lot of these issues to help the company. ![]() "Our contract has been completely rewritten. Murray added that a contract plan has been presented to the airlines as those negotiations continue. ![]() Southwest Airlines said in a statement that contract negotiations with pilots are ongoing. So it adds up and the more flying that there is that has to be covered,” Murray said. "Our pilots have lost over the last year almost 20,000 days off, which is over 50 years that our pilots have lost – involuntarily being made to fly on off days. He said pilots are feeling overworked during the never-ending travel demand and he hopes this will get the company's attention to negotiate new contracts and better treatment for pilots. In many cases, it's a longer flight, which has led pilots feeling fatigued and frustrated. Murray explained that many pilots start their day scheduled to fly to one destination only to receive a late reassignment that instructs them to fly elsewhere. "While we do need to hire pilots, the main problem is really the efficiency in the scheduling efficiencies that we've seen." And this has been going on for several years,” he said. "We've seen our company not really address a lot of operational problems. Murray said the biggest grievance is that Southwest has a problem with "bad scheduling" in connecting flights for pilots, which causes them to fly longer and become more fatigued. For 51 years, we’ve maintained a legendary southwest culture that honors our valued employees.” “Southwest airlines respects the rights of our employees to express their opinions, and we do not anticipate any disruption in service as a result of this single demonstration. “We’re aware that some off-duty pilots are participating in informational picketing,” Southwest Airlines told NBC 5 in a statement. The pilots and other supporters taking part in the picket are already scheduled to not work on Tuesday.Īccording to Southwest Airlines, the event shouldn't affect passengers who are scheduled to fly on Tuesday. According to the event website, union rules state pilots can't call in sick to take part in the picket and can't negatively impact the company's operation to attend. The union emphasizes this is not a walk out. Hundreds of pilots are expected to line up along Mockingbird Lane outside Love Field Tuesday for an informational picket
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