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The head of Southwest's pilots union says ...

Old 11-14-2019, 08:33 AM
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Default The head of Southwest's pilots union says ...

https://www.businessinsider.com/737-...OFms7ZSCbUQxO8

The head of Southwest's pilots union says Boeing is trying to rush the 737 Max back into service out of 'arrogance'

Will Martin
6 hours ago
The head of the pilots union for Southwest Airlines has issued a sharp criticism of Boeing, accusing the aviation giant of trying to rush the return of the plane.
"Boeing is increasingly publicizing that they may have to shut down their production line due to running out of room to store completed MAX aircraft," Weaks wrote in a letter to Southwest pilots published Wednesday. "There is some concern that this is simply another tactic to push the RTS timeline up."
Weaks went on to accuse Boeing of "arrogance, ignorance, and greed" in its approach to the 737 Max.
The 737 Max has been grounded globally since March after two crashes involving the aircraft killed a total of 346 people.
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The head of the pilots union for Southwest Airlines has issued a sharp criticism of Boeing, accusing the aviation giant of trying to rush the return of the plane to service.

In the letter dated Wednesday, Jon Weaks, the president of the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, told colleagues he was concerned about what he said was Boeing "increasingly publicizing" the negative consequences of the plane remaining grounded.

He accused Boeing executives of using such information to pressure regulators and airlines to get the plane back in the sky as soon as possible.

All 737 Maxes have been grounded since March, when the second of two Max aircraft crashed; the two crashes together killed 346 people.

Boeing and many airlines have said the grounding is costing them vast sums of money. Southwest has more 737 Maxes than any other airline, with 34.

"Boeing is increasingly publicizing that they may have to shut down their production line due to running out of room to store completed MAX aircraft," Weaks wrote. "There is some concern that this is simply another tactic to push the RTS timeline up," he continued, referring to a return-to-service time line.

Doing so, Weaks said, could also be an attempt to "force operators to resume making payments on MAX aircraft, transfer some costs, logistics, and responsibilities of storing and restoring the MAX to revenue service to respective operators."

Boeing earlier this week said it expected to start delivering new 737 Max aircraft to airlines in December, before they are formally approved to fly again.

The plane-maker hopes to have pilots deliver the jets to airline customers after the plane's main certification is complete but before new training procedures are finalized, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Jon Weaks, Southwest pilots union
Jon Weaks, the president of the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, during an interview with CNBC in October.
Screenshot/CNBC
Weaks went on to accuse Boeing of "arrogance, ignorance, and greed" in its approach to the 737 Max.

"Boeing will never, and should not ever, be given the benefit of the doubt again. The combination of arrogance, ignorance, and greed should and will haunt Boeing for eternity," Weaks wrote.

"I strongly concur with Southwest exploring obtaining a different and perhaps non-Boeing aircraft for the interest of all our futures," he concluded.

Southwest operates a fleet of exclusively Boeing 737 aircraft — and has for almost 50 years. But CEO Gary Kelly said during an earnings call in October that the airline was exploring alternatives.

"What I feel like we are obligated to do is just debate the wisdom, strategically, of having a sole source vendor and one fleet type," Kelly said, according to a report from the travel website Skift.

Weaks' full memo, posted to Twitter by the CBS transportation correspondent Kris Van Cleave, can be seen below:


Kris Van Cleave

vancleave
.@SouthwestAir pilot union president supports SWA looking at buying planes from someone other than in new letter to members. “I strongly concur with Southwest exploring obtaining a different and perhaps non-Boeing aircraft for the best interest of all our futures.”
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In a statement to Business Insider, Boeing did not directly address the criticism but said it hoped to "re-earn" the trust of aviation workers like Weaks and his members.

"We look forward to working with pilots, flight attendants, and our airline customers to re-earn their trust," the statement said.

"The Max will only be certified once regulators are completely satisfied that we have made all updates required and they determine the plane is safe to return to service."

A Southwest Airlines spokeswoman, Brandy King, told Reuters the company was "confident in the work being done to return the Max to service and continue to await additional guidance from Boeing and the FAA regarding timing and next steps."

Lion Air
Engine wreckage from the Lion Air plane.
Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images
Southwest operated 34 737 Max aircraft before the grounding, more than any other airline. It has pulled the plane from its schedule until at least March 6.

The memo from Weaks came with the union suing Boeing for lost compensation, accusing the company of rushing the jet to market and misrepresenting it as safe.

"We have to be able to trust Boeing to truthfully disclose the information we need to safely operate our aircraft," Weaks said in a statement published by The Wall Street Journal. "In the case of the 737 Max, that absolutely did not happen."

Weaks' note to pilots is the latest in a series of complaints about Boeing by airline staff about what they see as their exclusion from the process of returning the 737 Max to service, and Boeing's mismanagement of the crisis.

Earlier in November, Lori Bassani, the head of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, which represents 28,000 American Airlines crew members, sent a letter to Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg asking for more of a say in bringing the plane back to the skies.

"The 28,000 flight attendants working for American Airlines refuse to walk onto a plane that may not be safe and are calling for the highest possible safety standards to avoid another tragedy," the letter said, according to a report from Reuters at the time.
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