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☆ Southwest to testify at U.S. Senate hearing after meltdown
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Alyssa Pointer/File PhotoWASHINGTON, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Southwest Airlines (LUV.N) Chief Operating Officer Andrew Watterson will testify on Feb. 9 before the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee after a holiday meltdown forced the budget carrier to cancel thousands of flights. The hearing titled "Strengthening Airline Operations and Consumer Protections" will also include Southwest Airlines Pilots Association President Captain Casey Murray, Sharon Pinkerton, a senior official with Airlines for America, an industry group, and Paul Hudson, who heads Flyers' Rights, a passenger advocacy organization. The hearing will review causes and impacts of recent air travel disruptions including the Southwest December holiday operational woes that resulted in more than 16,000 flight cancellations. Southwest Chief Executive Bob Jordan has repeatedly apologized for the mass cancellations and said the carrier is looking at all options to prevent a repeat. The U.S. Transportation Department (USDOT) is investigating whether Southwest engaged in "unrealistic scheduling of flights" in December.

☆ Southwest Airlines to pay pilots millions in bonuses as 'gratitude' for working during meltdown: CNN
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Marielle Descalsota | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Southwest will pay pilots an estimated $45 million in bonuses for working during the service meltdown last year, per CNN. Some 9,400 pilots are expected to be paid 50% of their regular pay, CNN reported. Southwest employs some 9,400 pilots who are expected to be compensated 50% of their regular pay, CNN reported, citing a message sent by the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association to a member. These bonuses, or "gratitude pay," are meant to compensate pilots for working through the airline's service meltdown last December, the report states. Southwest Airlines CEO Bob Jordan took responsibility for the carrier's operational meltdown over the recent holiday season.

☆ Southwest pilots, others to get bonus pay for working during meltdown
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Chris Isidore | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN —Southwest Airlines has agreed to pay its pilots an estimated $45 million in bonus “gratitude pay” for working through the company’s service meltdown during the holiday travel period at the end of last year. Southwest has about 9,400 pilots. The estimated cost of their bonus pay was disclosed in a message from the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association to its membership saying the “gratitude pay” will be equal 50% of the pilots’ regular pay, excluding holiday pay, sick pay or vacation time. Southwest said the “gratitude” pay to employees is included in that estimate. About 83% of Southwest employees are represented by union groups, and the airline is currently in negotiations concerning seven separate contracts that cover most of those union members.

☆ Southwest Pilots to Vote on Whether to Authorize Union Leaders to Call for Strike
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Alison Sider | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Southwest Airlines Co. pilots plan to vote later this year on whether to authorize union leaders to call for a strike should they deem it necessary, as they become increasingly frustrated with what they say are stalled contract negotiations. Casey Murray, president of the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association union, told members Wednesday that the union plans to hold the vote starting May 1, citing what he said was a lack of progress years into talks with the airline.

☆ Southwest pilots' union calls vote to authorize potential strike as contract talks sour
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Leslie Josephs | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Southwest Airlines pilots' union plans to hold a vote that could give it the power to call a potential strike, a move that comes weeks after the carrier's holiday meltdown further strained ties with its workers' unions. Southwest and the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association have been in negotiations for a new contract for years. Union leaders have focused on better work rules and scheduling for Southwest workers. The union's president, Casey Murray, said it was the first time the union has held a strike authorization vote. "This decision is not one based on emotion, but I would be lying if I said that I wasn't angry," Murray wrote to pilots.

☆ Key Senate Democrats push Southwest CEO for answers on holiday meltdown
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Rebecca Picciotto | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Southwest Airlines Executive Vice President Bob Jordan speaks as he is interviewed by CNBC outside the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., December 9, 2021. The questions push for details about the causes of the meltdown, including Southwest's outdated software and staffing failures. The mass cancellations came alongside an intense snowstorm and elevated holiday travel demand, which posed a challenge to many airlines. The senators' letter also highlights Southwest's use of funds, claiming it neglected to update company-wide systems that have long been out of date. "Southwest has long known that its software was outdated, and the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association had warned that such a debacle was inevitable unless Southwest invested in new scheduling systems," the letter says.

☆ Southwest shareholders are suing the airline, saying it hid the problems that caused its winter meltdown
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Southwest shareholders are suing the airline following its mass flight cancellations in December. The lawsuit accuses it of downplaying or not noting previous issues in its scheduling system. The company cancelled almost 17,000 flights in December and said its scheduling system was a factor. Southwest cancelled significantly more flights than any other airline during the severe December weather. The vice captain of the Southwest Airlines Pilots' Association accused former Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly, who stepped down in January 2022 but is still the company's executive chairman, of turning the airline "into a headquarters-centric cult."

☆ Southwest has no solutions for recent debacle, faces up to $1 bln revenue hit - union official
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Rajesh Kumar Singh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

On the call, details of which have not been reported before, Nekouei said the company offered no immediate solutions. Before the recent crisis, Southwest had cultivated a reputation for reliable customer service, humorous flight crews and low-cost flights. Southwest, which has said it is making "solid progress" to return operations to normal, had no immediate comment on Thursday. Nekouei said the union's calculations suggest the latest debacle could result in an up to $1 billion revenue hit for the carrier. The pilots union has called that so-called "deadheading" practice fatiguing and inefficient.

☆ Southwest's ex-CEO turned the airline into a 'cult' that couldn't recover from its 'meltdowns', says pilots' union official
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Southwest's former CEO created a "cult" focused on its headquarters, its pilots' union VP said. Captain Tom Nekouei said in an open letter that Gary Kelly's chickens had "come home to roost." Gary Kelly stepped down as CEO of Southwest Airlines in January 2022 but remains executive chairman. "Gary Kelly's only enduring legacy is that he destroyed Herb Kelleher's." A spokesperson for Southwest Airlines said it had a "more than 51-year history of allowing – and encouraging – its employees to express their opinions in a respectful manner."

The union, which remains locked in heated contract negotiations with Southwest Airlines, published the letter Dec. 31. Kelly served as Southwest CEO from 2004 until last February, and replaced Southwest co-founder Herb Kelleher as chairman in 2008. This is not an employees of Southwest Airlines problem. The union, Nekouei wrote, "has been beating this drum to management for nearly a decade pleading with them to spend the necessary capital to prevent the ultimate consequence someday." In an emailed statement responding to the union's letter, Southwest said that "it has a more than 51-year history of allowing — and encouraging — its Employees to express their opinions in a respectful manner."

"There'll certainly be an impact to the fourth quarter," Chief Commercial Officer Ryan Green told reporters on a call on Thursday. While other U.S. airlines got back to their feet relatively quickly, Dallas-based Southwest is still limping back to normalcy. Employee unions say they have repeatedly warned Southwest management that the airline's technology systems badly needed upgrades. Flight attendants have been complaining about technological failures at the airline for years, according to Lyn Montgomery, president of the Southwest Airlines Flight Attendants Union, a local 556 of the Transport Workers Union. The comments echoed those of the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, which said leadership had failed to adapt operations to address repeated systems failures, despite years of calls for improvements by the union.

The storm forced U.S. airlines to cancel thousands of flights around the holiday weekend, but Southwest's problems deepened while other airlines largely recovered. Southwest plans to return to normal flight schedules on Friday, the airline said in a statement, adding it was eager to get back to normal ahead of the New Year holiday weekend. On a Sept. 27 picket line, she added, one sign read, "Picket line loading, Southwest Airlines technology failure." The comments echoed those of the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, which said leadership had failed to adapt operations to address repeated systems failures, despite years of calls for improvements by the union. The U.S. Transportation Department is investigating the large number of cancelled and delayed Southwest flights in recent days to determine if they were in the airline's control.

☆ Southwest unions say they warned company about outdated systems for years
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Shelby TauberWASHINGTON, Dec 29 (Reuters) - Employee unions say they warned Southwest Airlines Co. management for years that its technological systems badly needed upgrades, as the low-cost carrier canceled thousands of flights during the busy holiday travel crunch. Flight attendants have been complaining about technological failures at the airline for years, according to Lyn Montgomery, president of the Southwest Airlines Flight Attendance Union. On a Sept. 27 picket line, she added, one sign read, "Picket line loading, Southwest Airlines technology failure." The comments echoed those of the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, which blamed leadership failures in adapting airline operations to address repeated systems failures despite years of calls for improvements by the union. Company officials acknowledged that current problems stem, in part, from an inability of internal logistics and scheduling systems to recover after widespread storm disruptions.

CNN —A blast of severe winter weather last week caused thousands of Southwest Airlines flight cancellations and spiraled into a complete meltdown of its flight system. In October 2021, Southwest canceled more than 2,000 flights over a four-day period. While the airline blamed the crisis partly on bad weather in Florida, Southwest canceled flights for far longer than its competitors. Southwest’s scheduling system hasn’t changed much since the 1990s, according to Captain Casey Murray, president of the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association. But Southwest has consistently failed to perform as well as its competitors when it comes to cancellations, according to bureau data.

☆ Why Southwest is still melting down
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( David Goldman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Still, Southwest canceled another 2,300 flights today, long after its rivals had resumed normal service. Here’s why is Southwest taking so long to get its operations back on track: Southwest got unlucky with the location of the storm and its timing. And outdated scheduling technology left Southwest scrambling to match crew with planes. Bad luckThe storm hit Chicago and Denver hard, where Southwest has two of its biggest hubs – Chicago Midway airport and Denver International airport. Although Southwest says it was fully staffed for the holiday weekend, illness makes adjusting to increased system stress difficult.

☆ Premarket stocks: Wall Street's biggest winners and losers in 2022
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

The S&P 500 is down nearly 20% and with two trading days left in the year, investors’ hopes of a miraculous recovery have been dashed. The energy sector has so far returned more than 60% this year, significantly outperforming every other S&P 500 sector. Occidental Petroleum has been the biggest gainer of the year in the S&P 500, up 122% year-to-date. The energy sector reported the highest year-over-year earnings growth of all 11 sectors, at 137.3%. Elon Musk’s Tesla (TSLA) is also down about 70%, making the auto tech company the third worst performer this year.

☆ Transportation Department will be looking into Southwest flight cancellations, Buttigieg says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Phil-Helsel-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Phil Helsel | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Southwest canceled more than 2,800 flights Monday — the day after Christmas — and around 2,600 Tuesday, according to tracking website FlightAware. Casey Murray, president of the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, said Southwest had not adequately prepared flights for the storm. Travelers wait in line near the Southwest Airlines ticketing counter at Nashville International Airport, in Nashville, Tenn., on Tuesday. Buttigieg said Southwest has pledged to take care of impacted customers, and that the Transportation Department will be holding the airline accountable for that. Another 2,478 Southwest flights scheduled for Wednesday have also been cancelled, according to FlightAware.

☆ Southwest asks HQ employees to ditch normal jobs to pitch in to get flights back on track, leaked memo says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Taylor Rains | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Southwest Airlines is battling an operational meltdown, canceling over 9,000 flights since Sunday. The carrier asked corporate employees to volunteer to work eight-hour shifts to help with crew scheduling. The shifts would be in lieu of normal day-to-day work duties, according to an internal memo. The shift would be worked instead of each employee's normal day-to-day duties and the memo does not mention incentives like extra pay. Captain Mike Santoro, vice president of the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, told Insider on Tuesday that the airline's scheduling software is "outdated" and needs an upgrade.

☆ Southwest pilots have had to book their own hotel rooms during the airline's operational meltdown
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Taylor Rains | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Southwest Airlines has been experiencing an operational meltdown due to the winter storm and "scheduling issues." Company union VP Captain Mike Santoro told Insider that pilots are booking their own hotel rooms. Captain Mike Santoro, vice president of the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association (SWAPA), told Insider the union is encouraging its pilots to book their own accommodations during the meltdown and some pilots have had to do that. He told Insider that the decision to tell crew members to book their own accommodations comes down to safety. "Employees, like customers, may submit receipts for reimbursement consideration," a Southwest representative told Insider.

☆ Analysis: Southwest got billions of dollars in taxpayer aid. Why is its service still a mess?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Alicia Wallace | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

Southwest Airlines received more than $7 billion from that program. However, analysts say, Southwest’s service meltdown is unrelated to the taxpayer assistance the airline received in 2020. Cancelled Southwest Airlines flights are seen on the flight schedules at LaGuardia Airport, Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2022, in New York. In April 2020, airline passenger traffic plummeted 96% and stayed 60% below 2019 levels in 2020, according to the US Government Accountability Office. “The problems at Southwest Airlines over the last several days go beyond weather,” she said in a statement.

At a news conference in Houston, Southwest spokesman Jay McVay said cancellations snowballed as storm systems moved across the country, leaving flight crews and planes out of place. In normal times, this can allow Southwest to operate more flights over a given 24-hour period than other carriers, said Scott Meyerowitz, executive editor of The Points Guy travel site. Casey Murray, president of the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, said Southwest had not adequately prepared flights for the storm, which hampered ground transportation and maintenance vehicles. Adding to the difficulty: Large swaths of Southwest crews remain in contract negotiations with the carrier. Southwest Airlines did not immediately respond to questions about ongoing contract negotiations with its crews.

☆ Southwest says its travel meltdown was partially caused by a 'scheduling issue' and that it'll reimburse 'reasonable requests' for meals, hotels, and travel
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Taylor Rains | Paul Squire | Rebecca Cohen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Southwest Airlines in part blamed a "scheduling issue" for thousands of flight cancelations during the holidays. Southwest said it would reimburse "reasonable" requests like meals, hotel stays, or other transportation. The company also said it'd honor "reasonable" reimbursement requests from customers for things like meals, hotel stays, or other ways to travel to their destination. Southwest captain Mike Santoro, vice president of the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association (SWAPA), told Insider that the airline's system is having so many issues, schedulers are sorting out flight crews by hand. Customers who want to rebook their flight or get a refund can go to the airline's "Travel Disruption" page.

☆ Frustrated Southwest pilot and union rep says the airline's flight meltdown was caused by outdated scheduling software
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Taylor Rains | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Southwest Airlines has canceled nearly 2,600 flights so far on Tuesday after canceling over 2,900 on Monday. For example, he explained one flight had two pilots and three flight attendants assigned to a flight but needed one more flight attendant for the plane to legally fly. There were several deadheading flight attendants onboard, meaning they were being flown to another city for an assignment but were "ready, willing, and able to work" that flight as well. "Even though we had a crew available, [scheduling] had no idea those flight attendants were in the back of the airplane." The latter's systems failed to keep up because flight attendants use a system largely reliant on phone lines, Montgomery told KHOU.

☆ Why Southwest is melting down
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( David Goldman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

By Monday, air travel was more or less back to normal – unless you booked your holiday travel with Southwest Airlines. More than 90% of Tuesday’s US flight cancellations are Southwest, according to flight tracking website FlightAware. Southwest warned that it would continue canceling flights until it could get its operations back on track. Similar to this month’s service mayhem, Southwest fared far worse than its competitors last October. While Southwest canceled hundreds of flights in the days following the peak of October’s disruption, competitors quickly returned to normal service.

Chief Executive Officer Bob Jordan said the reinstatement reflects "the strong return in demand for air travel" as well as Southwest's "solid" operating and financial performance since March. While mounting economic worries have clouded the outlook for consumer spending, the Dallas-based carrier said it has seen no signs of a slowdown in travel demand. It expects strong leisure revenue trends to continue into the first quarter of next year. Southwest will pay a quarterly dividend of 18 cents per share to shareholders on Jan. 31. "With more than two-thirds of its labor contracts still open,...reinstating dividends just illustrates how far Southwest has veered from its path," said Southwest Airlines Pilots Association President Casey Murray.

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