In mid-May, Southwest Airlines pilots voted to authorize a strike, making this the fourth pilots union in the United States to do so in recent months. That’s only the first step to actually going on strike, though. The union has now taken the second step, which is more than we’ve seen at any US airline…
Continue reading: Southwest Airlines Pilots Could Go On Strike (For Real)!
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Oh please oh please oh please let them get released, wait 30 days, and strike! The wanton hubris spewing from the palace at Love Field needs to have consequences for once.
The Railway Labor Act which governs airline labor negotiations includes very clear steps in the process for getting a labor contract. When mediation does not obtain the goals necessary, EITHER SIDE can ask for an end to that process which includes the right to strike by labor or the right to lock out labor by the company.
WN pilots have long obtained total compensation as good as or better than their legacy carrier peers but that has changed and WN pilots have every right to expect that the company will do its part to narrow that gap.
And the growing labor costs are hurting low cost carriers which do not have the ability to generate the revenue which the big 3 global carriers can generate through their premium services on domestic and longhaul international routes. Regional carriers and low cost carriers including B6 and NK cannot keep their pilot workforces staffed including to levels necessary to grow the airlines.
If Delta achieved anything w/ its massive pay raise, it made sure it will have the people to grow at the expense of other airlines.
And let's not also forget that there is a deepening shortage of aircraft mechanics who are highly skilled and paid and flight attendant unions are also looking for hefty pay raise; none of the big 3 has matched DL's pay raises for its flight attendants including boarding pay.
Yes, LUV pilots are justified in asking to be released from mediation. If LUV wants to have a future for the company that Herb built, they have to figure out how to continue the premium pay tradition that it has maintained for its workforce for decade.
Delay the release about a week and I'll be fine with it, Hawaii with the kids is coming up and I'd hate to cancel it...
The RLA gives the US President the authority to cancel any strike and force the striking group back to work and then the president will convene a board to develop an agreement. Go lookup the AA pilot strike in 1997. The disruption to the economy would be immense because of the proposed strike.
Why is there reasoning pointing to higher pay for less skilled? flights? Am I reading that correctly? They want the same pay flying smaller aircraft as pilots who actually do pilot larger aircraft?
What type of logic is that? If that's correct, then it's absurd. That would be like medical personnel at level 5 hospitals or clinics out in the middle of nowhere, who frankly don't have the specialization/experience required for more complex cases, to get paid the same as those professionals in Level 1 facilities that actually do provide the experience/education/specialization necessary to do the job.
Wouldn't we all love to get paid the same for doing less skilled/specialized work as those that actually do.
To NotMyName: Southwest pilots are NOT less skilled just because they fly 737's. Every pilot is highly trained for the plane he/she flies. One plane is not that much more difficult to fly that another plane. Your analogy does not apply in this situation.
NotMyName you comment shows you have zero knowledge of aviation. The specialized skills it takes to fly a 737, 767, 787 are exactly the same. A 767 flying from Los Angeles to Honolulu verse a 737 requires zero difference in skill.
Your comment is very ignorantly said. Your analogy of level 1 and level 5 hospitals are not remotely a comparison. But, I’ll try and play along. Arguably, the smaller aircraft makes more takeoffs and landings, since the larger airplane flies long distance. The inherited risk involved for the smaller aircraft is much higher, and by your own argument, the smaller aircraft would be closer aligned to a level 1 hospital. It is well documented, the smaller aircraft has more risk involved, and therefore demands more skill, therefore more pay. Don’t let the adjective of “small” conjure up another adjective meaning “insignificant”. The skill/specialized work is identical. If you will, call an airplane a “widget.” If the widgets earn the same revenues, how is your explanation because one is a smaller widget, it demands less respect or pay? If an identical hat has one famous logo as one that has an unknown logo, which one will generate more earnings? In this case the widget is logo, one is huge and one is insignificant. Do your homework.