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Southwest Airlines on Thursday sued its union of mechanics for allegedly slowing down illegal labor that has reportedly blocked planes and caused up to 100 flight cancellations a day since mid-February.
The carrier said that its mechanics had disabled an unusually high number of aircraft in recent weeks, a move considered a tactic of negotiation in a contractual dispute. The most recent negotiations have been broken on the amount of maintenance that the airline would be allowed to outsource.
Last month, the mechanics removed up to 62 aircraft from the service in one day, which disrupted schedules on the Southwest network, according to the lawsuit. In comparison, the airline expects an average of 14 aircraft out of service per day and can operate a normal schedule with 35 out of 752 ground planes.
The mechanics, who are members of the Fraternal Association of Aircraft Mechanics, cited security concerns as reasons for the aircraft being decommissioned. The airline argued in its lawsuit that many aircraft had been decommissioned for relatively minor problems that did not affect their ability to fly.
The national director of the union issued a statement last week denying that the mechanics have failed to land plane.
"Southwest has a legitimate argument here, and it's trying to strike a balance between keeping people safe and not putting planes out of action for issues that are considered extremely minor and not critical," said Henry Harteveldt, founder of research on the atmosphere. , a travel industry analytics firm in San Francisco. "What Southwest wants to make sure is that if an aircraft is taken out of service, it's okay – it's not because of what's considered a nuisance."
For example, Mr. Harteveldt stated that it would be nice for a plane to fly with a broken coffee maker or an unlit bulb in the reader's lamp, but that kind of problem could be used to justify the grounding of the aircraft.
"Yesterday's action does not change our goal of achieving a win-win agreement for our maintenance employees or the company's unwavering commitment to safety," said Russell McCrady, vice-president of the company. President of Southwest Labor Relations, in a statement. "We will not stray from our goal of rewarding our mechanics, while protecting our employees and customers from unnecessary disruptions within the company."
The union did not respond to a request for comment.
Southwest and its mechanics have been negotiating for years in difficult contracts. The airline had already sued its mechanics in 2017, when the union encouraged its members to participate in the boycott of overtime. This lawsuit is still pending after the union and the airline failed to conclude a contract.
Mr. Harteveldt stated that it was not unusual for airlines and their unions to go to court during contract negotiations, and that such disputes generally did not have long-term effects on transactions. airlines.
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