Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, better known as SWAPA, is historically starting balloting for a strike authorization vote or SAV. A SAV allows SWAPA leaders to call a strike if the union is legally released from labor negotiations with Southwest Airlines. A recent SWAPA podcast indicates a strike fueled by angst over the state of Southwest Airlines’ may be as soon as late summer or fall.

Strike vote referendum on “operational disaster”

For Southwest Airlines, this is the first SAV in the airline’s history. As SWAPA President Casey Murray kindly informed Simple Flying last week, the SAV is not about money, it’s about processes and more.

We're not picketing because of pay. We're not picketing because of retirement. We're picketing because of the operational disaster that Southwest has become.

Clearly, Southwest Airlines has operational challenges. There is the April 18 ground stop due to the airline’s scheduling software crashing – again – due to “corrupt data in the system” as per below,

As Captain Michael Santoro, a SWAPA Vice President, shared with CNBC, the latest issue was from information technology issues such as firewalls and patches due for updates five years ago. Southwest Airlines' operations rely on the software to furnish pilots with paperwork to fly their assigned flights safely and legally:

Coming hot on the heels of the infamous late December 2022 meltdown, which is under investigation from both the US Department of Justice and the US Department of Transportation, SWAPA leaders are lacking confidence in the airline management’s sense of urgency.

Wanding In A 737-800 at KBLI
Photo: Joe Kunzler | Simple Flying

Scheduling challenges

As an example, Southwest Airlines uses SkySolver to schedule the pilots while Baker schedules the airplanes. Neither scheduling software speaks to the other, complicating airline dispatchers’ work. Clearly, when SkySolver is overwhelmed, as was the case last December with multiple crashes, this adds additional work to the employees who dispatch aircraft and aircrew to fly. There is no indication that efforts are being made to remedy software communication.

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As Murray explained to Simple Flying about his view on Southwest Airline’s information technology situation - especially around scheduling,

We've been the whistleblowers for the past six years on the scheduling and what has led up to these failures that now are happening more and more frequently.

The below SWAPA YouTube full of US press coverage of Southwest's scheduling issues bears this out:

Then there is the continuing concern about pilots deadheading. Murray remains concerned about the approximately 20% of pilots who are being reassigned, which then makes deadheading – where a pilot is flying as a passenger – necessary to retain scheduling integrity. This puts pilots at increased risk of fatigue.

SWAPA also concerned about pilot attrition

Another issue Southwest Airlines is facing and fueling the SWAPA angst is recruiting and retaining pilots. Southwest Airlines has lost 164 pilots since December 2021, according to SWAPA. The Association says that pilots with less than five years seniority had a series of complaints about Southwest Airlines, from repetitive training to a “vague” contract to scheduling. A former Southwest pilot said,

“The five legs per day pairing without having a chance to eat between flights was exhausting. Just the simple fact of operating more than four legs was tiring, but getting to an outstation so late that I was not able to eat because everything was closed was demoralizing.”

Adding to this is the perceived lack of job security. Ever since the 1,221 WARN [Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification] Notices were delivered warning of potential layoff in 2020 without subsequent apology, some pilots felt betrayed. As one pilot put it,

“One of the reasons SWA [Southwest Airlines] was my #1 choice was a lack of furloughs. WARN notices severely diminished my view of the Company.”

Murray also shared with Simple Flying repeatedly the genuine concern he and his members felt for the future of the Southwest Airlines' enterprise. For Murray, having a lawyer who worked eight years before leaving aviation due to Southwest Airlines is a sign of fatigue both with contract negotiations and “the operation”.

Nonetheless, according to Southwest Media Relations, for perspective,

“Southwest hired more than 1,200 First Officers in 2021 and plans to grow its First Officer workforce by 1,700 in 2023.”

That makes the losses of 164 pilots at 13.6% of the hiring, which is costing the airline $11.9 million in lost training.

As if this wasn’t enough, Murray said in September 2022 that he believes Southwest Airlines has transitioned from “a company that supported its employees to a company supported by its employees.” Many of the issues profiled in September 2022 continue today – such as deadheading, fatigue, scheduling, and loss of culture.

Southwest Airlines is attempting to rebound

While Southwest Airlines has much to stand tall about in 2023 – such as 25 years of continuing its Adopt-A-Pilot program and a successfully executed emergency landing in Cuba, the airline has plenty to address. Already airline management has launched a microsite announcing changes to crew scheduling software, and the carrier has pledged to spend more than $1.3 billion on investments, upgrades, and maintenance of information technology systems in 2023.

_DSC5015-source - Southwest Adopt-A-Pilot Program 25th Anniversary
Photo: Southwest Airlines

Furthermore, Southwest Airlines management is making some extreme weather preparedness investments, from training headquartered staff to provide surge capacity to buying additional engine covers and deicing tools. Nonetheless, Southwest Airlines’ response so far appears not to address the ongoing scheduling software problems that caused the prolific late-December 2022 meltdown.

As such, SWAPA has even called for its members to vote against the 12 members of the airline's Board of Directors (BOD) up for reelection. As SWAPA explained in a statement;

So it is necessary to ask these questions of the 12 BOD members up for re-election: Where were you during the numerous operational meltdowns of the past 10 years? What was the BOD’s reaction as SWAPA and other employee groups continually warned about the lack of technology investment and outdated systems? The warning signs were there. As a result of ignoring those warnings, the October 2021 disruption cost the Company $75 million and the latest one will cost north of $1 billion. We know the priority of increasing shareholder value through dividends and buybacks has been a constant theme, but what about our airline’s operational performance? Where does this fit onto their list of priorities? Unfortunately, the answer seems pretty clear, at least up to this point.

Could a strike be this summer?

As per a SWAPA podcast dropped early May 1, there is the distinct possibility the mediator may start the process to release the parties to "self-help" at SWAPA’s likely request in early June. This would translate into the mediator likely finding an impasse, and the race to authority for the pilots to go on strike or the airline to lock them out from flying begins.

SWAPA has been frustrated at the slow pace of negotiations. Even after the SAV was announced with coverage of December’s negotiating pace, among other issues, a review of a SWAPA public-facing briefing to members indicates airline management has yet to make a counteroffer.

Southwest on the Railway Labor Act
Graphic: Southwest Airlines

As such, SWAPA is preparing to use the Railway Labor Act’s provisions, as shown above, to request to be released from mediated negotiation and go to “self-help,” such as not taking up open time or a full strike. Until a release, SWAPA commits to remain in negotiations and is even requesting daily negotiations.

About 35:15 into the above podcast, Jody Reven, the SWAPA chief negotiator, went so far as to state,

We've done everything to uphold the RLA [Railway Labor Act] process and put ourselves in a position to be released. I haven't seen any evidence that the company is really ready for a deal. ... If you ask me today, based on what you've seen, I would be asking today to be released if the SAV was finished.

In response, the Southwest Airlines management stated they considered the SAV "a contract negotiating tactic, one that several airline unions have used within the last twelve months.” At the very least, airline unions such as Alaska Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and WestJet have conducted such a vote. In the cases of all three, scheduling was a major concern.

Furthermore, in the statement, Adam Carlisle, Vice President Labor Relations at Southwest Airlines, said,

“SWAPA’s authorization vote will not affect Southwest’s operation or our ability to take care of our Customers. Our negotiations continue, with talks resuming this week, and we’ll keep working with the assistance of the National Mediation Board to reach an agreement that rewards our Pilots and places them competitively in the industry.”

Bottom line: SAV is a fight over Southwest’s future

The calling of and the conduct of the pilot's union vote itself may not affect Southwest operations. Still, the vote does reflect a change in Southwest Airlines’ culture as the airline goes through its first strike authorization vote. For SWAPA President Murray,

“The decision to authorize a strike is not one we have taken lightly, but given the lack of accountability and dearth of leadership exhibited by our current executives, we felt that this was a last resort to try to force them to face the issues plaguing our passengers, our frontline employees, and our pilots.”

A 10mm Look At A Soiuthwest 737-800 Unloading at KBLI
Photo: Joe Kunzler | Simple Flying

This decision against the backdrop of these circumstances is debatably part of the Southwest Airlines culture. As was arguably profiled in a recent Simple Flying history of Southwest’s beginnings and as Colleen Barrett is quoted in Southwest Airlines’ self-published book Leading With Heart: Living and Working the Southwest Way:

“The warrior mentality, the very fight to survive, is truly what created our Culture.”

One would argue that the SAV is another expression of that end. Furthermore, as Herb Kelleher, the founder of Southwest Airlines, said,

“Power should be reserved for weightlifting and boats; Leadership really involves responsibility.”

Southwest 737 8 MAX Herb Kelleher Tribute Livery
Photo: Joe Kunzler | Simple Flying

Ultimately, as SWAPA President Casey Murray shared with Simple Flying;

What we're fighting over is scheduling, which directly translates to our on-time performance and customer satisfaction. I think that is really what's critical for the public to know is we are fighting for them. We are fighting because Southwest won't address it. We're going to extend negotiating capital doing exactly that. That's shocking if you really think about it.

What are your thoughts about Southwest Airlines? Please share with civility in the comments section.

  • Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-700 San Francisco
    Southwest Airlines
    IATA/ICAO Code:
    WN/SWA
    Airline Type:
    Low-Cost Carrier
    Hub(s):
    Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, Dallas Love Field, Denver International Airport, Harry Reid International Airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Houston Hobby Airport, Los Angeles International Airport, Midway International Airport, Oakland International Airport, Orlando International Airport, Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
    Year Founded:
    1967
    CEO:
    Robert Jordan
    Country:
    United States