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Officials with the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association say they too will ask for the right to strike if they don't have a contract deal with the airline in the next few days. “We definitely don't feel any equality here,” said Erik Harris, treasurer of the flight attendants' union. “How come the pilots have gotten their deal and we haven't?”Because of pattern bargaining, Southwest pilots are likely to wind up with raises like those approved for American Airlines pilots. The Southwest pilots' union has already tried and failed once this year to get permission to strike. On Thursday, several dozen American Airlines flight attendants picketed along a thoroughfare outside company headquarters in Texas, some carrying signs reading, “Ready to strike."

Persons: ”, “, Erik Harris, Tom Nekouei, Harris Organizations: —, Airlines, The, Professional, Southwest, Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, U.S, Spirit Airlines, National, Board, American Airlines, Boeing, ”, United Auto Workers, Hollywood, Teamsters, United Parcel Service Locations: Texas, Dallas, Fort Worth, Southwest, ” Dallas

The Dallas-based carrier has blamed the hour-long outage on a vendor-supplied network firewall failure, causing a temporary loss of connection to key systems. Southwest told Reuters on Wednesday it opted to halt flights out of caution, adding there were no indications of a cyber attack. It declined to identify the vendor and did not address why this failure was not part of the company's planning. While the exact cause is not clear, some industry experts questioned why Southwest systems did not include more redundancy. Southwest was able to manually launch flights while SWIFT was down but decided to suspend departures at 8:27 a.m. CST.

☆ Southwest Airlines Pilots Association explains what grounded the airlines' fleet
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailSouthwest Airlines Pilots Association explains what grounded the airlines' fleetCapt. Tom Nekouei of the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association discusses what led to Tuesday's grounded Southwest flights. Hosted by Brian Sullivan, “Last Call” is a fast-paced, entertaining business show that explores the intersection of money, culture and policy. Tune in Monday through Friday at 7 p.m. ET on CNBC.

☆ Southwest CEO Jordan finds himself in eye of storm after airline's holiday debacle
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Rajesh Kumar Singh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

CHICAGO, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Bob Jordan, Southwest Airlines Co's (LUV.N) CEO, faces the biggest challenge yet in his 35-year career at the airline that has built a customer-friendly reputation. Southwest's struggles reached a notable low on Jan. 28 when comedy sketch TV show "Saturday Night Live" lampooned the Dallas-based airline's technology and service. The carrier will now answer to U.S. Congress on Thursday when Chief Operating Officer Andrew Watterson testifies before the Senate Commerce Committee. In October, Jordan, who started his career at Southwest in 1988 as a computer programmer, put Watterson in charge of the airline's operations. Last week, Jordan also named a chief information officer who will help manage the airline's technology investments, upgrades and system maintenance.

☆ 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."

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