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By Marc Cook
| February 18, 2019

Southwest Airlines canceled more than 100 flights on presidents' day weekend, not for reasons of time or crew, but because more than twice the usual number of Boeing 737s were out of service for reasons for maintenance.

During a typical day, Southwest will have 20 out of 750 aircraft waiting for maintenance. But since last week, the airline has on average doubled that number. The airline said there was no "common theme" at the maintenance events.

On Friday, the airline sent a "hands-on" request to its maintenance teams, which meant that unexcused absences could result in termination of the contract. "We need all the stakeholders on deck to fix maintenance issues so we can get the aircraft back into service quickly," Southwest said. The Chicago Tribune reports that Southwest told workers "alleging an illness" that they would be required to prove that they were actually sick with a doctor's note on their return to work or under the gun. a termination of employment.

This "perfect storm" of maintenance activity comes after Southwest removed 22 aircraft from the service, convinced that incorrect fuel pump o-rings had been installed. These planes were cleared and returned to service late last week.