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Southwest operational meltdown as hundreds of flights canceled or delayed

thepointsguy.com

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Re: Southwest operational meltdown as hundreds of flights canceled or delayed

#42

[flagged]

I think we should definitely do better than "word on the tweet" for evidence when trying to bring up the COVID vaccine discussion here. EDIT: Thanks for adding a source!

Sure, but the OP is a link to a credit card blog. We’re not exactly in primary source territory to start.

PS. Apply for the southwest card!

Re: Southwest operational meltdown as hundreds of flights canceled or delayed

#43

The explanation of "weather and an FAA shutdown" doesn't make sense given that, according to the article, other airlines aren't experiencing this at all. Oh, and for folks talking about a pilot protest against vaccine mandates, that theory is discussed at length toward the end of the article.

I imagine this kind of thing cascades quite badly if it goes wrong, so it's not unimaginable that they just got unlucky regarding where machines are/where crews that are rested are and it collapsed from there, whereas other airlines got lucky/predicted the consequences better/had more resilient planning.

(EDIT: which would match the union statement /u/hnburnsy quotes: but what was a minor temporary event for other carriers devastated Southwest Airlines because our operation has become brittle and subject to massive failures under the slightest pressure. Our operation and our frontline employees have endured continuous and unending disruptions since the first time our airline made headlines in early June due to widespread IT failures.)

Re: Southwest operational meltdown as hundreds of flights canceled or delayed

#44
post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To me, >Online speculation that Southwest’s new vaccine mandate has led pilots to stage a sickout is being denied by the union representing Southwest pilots. >That follows reporting on social media that some of the issues the airline is suffering could be related to that issue. A spokesperson for the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association (SWAPA) told the Arizona Republic it was not aware of any work stoppage and woul…

If this is the result of a sickout, I assume the current administration could direct the Dept of Defense to make military pilots available to Southwest in the event of an extended availability issue with their union pilots. Not as brutal as Reagan breaking the ATC union, but supporting a common carrier in a time of crisis. I don’t believe a federal case has been heard yet where the vaccine mandate or terminating thos…

Military pilots for commercial airlines. Military personnel in hospitals. When do we get military teachers and military politicians?

Re: Southwest operational meltdown as hundreds of flights canceled or delayed

#45

Doesn’t add up. Severe weather and military training in the same airspace? Other airlines not affected? Odd to say the least.

According to an analyst that CBS talked to https://www.cbsnews.com/news/southwest-flight-cancellations-... Southwest was hit harder because of they way they organize their routes. Not having "hubs" means they can't create alternate routes quickly. So the delays in Florida cascaded back, stranding planes and crews as well as passengers. He also says they'd already scheduled more flights than they can handle, but I don't know exactly what that means.

Re: Southwest operational meltdown as hundreds of flights canceled or delayed

#46

[flagged]

Wouldn’t a widespread coordinated protest be extremely easy to verify? To the contrary, the southwest pilots union (SWAPA) is explicitly saying these delays are not caused by vaccine protests, despite their continued opposition to the mandate. https://www.forbes.com/sites/graisondangor/2021/10/10/southw...

Doesn't a strike need an authorization vote? Perhaps they couldn't get one. United Airlines has over 90% vaccinated employees. If the numbers are similar at Southwest, it might mean there isn't enough will to oppose the mandate through a formal action. That puts union leadership in an awkward position - they could say "some employees have gone rogue and taken sick time to protest the mandate", but that's kinda throwing some of their members under the bus.

Re: Southwest operational meltdown as hundreds of flights canceled or delayed

#47
post #43

The explanation of "weather and an FAA shutdown" doesn't make sense given that, according to the article, other airlines aren't experiencing this at all. Oh, and for folks talking about a pilot protest against vaccine mandates, that theory is discussed at length toward the end of the article.

I imagine this kind of thing cascades quite badly if it goes wrong, so it's not unimaginable that they just got unlucky regarding where machines are/where crews that are rested are and it collapsed from there, whereas other airlines got lucky/predicted the consequences better/had more resilient planning. (EDIT: which would match the union statement /u/hnburnsy quotes: but what was a minor temporary event for other ca…

Southwest also operates a flight network that relies on flights making multiple stops along the way, whereas many other airlines may have more direct flights that aren’t impacted as much by distant flights being delayed.

Here’s an article from the AP that mentions the “point-to-point route network” as a contributing factor in terms of a cascading failure: https://apnews.com/article/lifestyle-business-travel-8abd4e0...

Re: Southwest operational meltdown as hundreds of flights canceled or delayed

#48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If this is the result of a sickout, I assume the current administration could direct the Dept of Defense to make military pilots available to Southwest in the event of an extended availability issue with their union pilots. Not as brutal as Reagan breaking the ATC union, but supporting a common carrier in a time of crisis. I don’t believe a federal case has been heard yet where the vaccine mandate or terminating thos…

Military pilots for commercial airlines. Military personnel in hospitals. When do we get military teachers and military politicians?

[deleted]

Re: Southwest operational meltdown as hundreds of flights canceled or delayed

#49
post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My take on it. If it was a strike I think we'd hear about it in more definitive terms than rumor. That's the point of a strike, disruption and attention.

So everyone just got sick?

Everyone who? As far as I can see no one is missing. At least no one who will stand up and be counted. Makes more sense SW fucked up trying to pinch pennies and got caught with their pants down.

Re: Southwest operational meltdown as hundreds of flights canceled or delayed

#50
post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To me, >Online speculation that Southwest’s new vaccine mandate has led pilots to stage a sickout is being denied by the union representing Southwest pilots. >That follows reporting on social media that some of the issues the airline is suffering could be related to that issue. A spokesperson for the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association (SWAPA) told the Arizona Republic it was not aware of any work stoppage and woul…

If this is the result of a sickout, I assume the current administration could direct the Dept of Defense to make military pilots available to Southwest in the event of an extended availability issue with their union pilots. Not as brutal as Reagan breaking the ATC union, but supporting a common carrier in a time of crisis. I don’t believe a federal case has been heard yet where the vaccine mandate or terminating thos…

> I assume the current administration could direct the Dept of Defense to make military pilots available to Southwest

Yeah just have them switch to a completely different type of aircraft without getting trained or checked out at all, this will definitely fix the problem in short order.

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