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Painter said during his visit to Dallas Monday and Tuesday that he had seen planes out of service for days without any maintenance work. He said he feared that mechanics would be set up for not having solved what had been called urgent by the company.
Contacted about the union's demands, Southwest responded with a statement in which he reaffirmed that its primary purpose was the safety of customers and employees.
"The airline continues to experience a large number of aircraft out of service and operates in accordance with a recruitment protocol adopted last weekend to maximize the availability of mechanics to deal with aircraft. maintenance elements and enable the return to service of aircraft safely, "the statement said.
Thursday, Southwest still had the most canceled flights of all airlines. Its nearly 400 cancellations accounted for 9% of its fleet, against 11% last Wednesday, according to FlightAware and Southwest data. The airline said 270 cancellations were weather related.
Over the past week, Southwest has been at the center of a controversy ranging from stranded flights and resulting passenger delays to the release of a one-year investigation conducted by the Federal Aviation Authority. Administration on baggage weighing practices. The main among them was the disagreement between Southwest and the mechanics union.
Southwest has been negotiating for six years with the union, which represents no less than 2,700 mechanics. An agreement in principle reached last fall was later rejected. More recently, the union rejected a Southwest proposal to increase wages and add bonuses.
Chief Operating Officer Mike Van de Ven said the large number of planes taken out of service began shortly after the last bargaining session of both parties. He apologized to his clients and blamed the union, which he said had "a history of work disruption".
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