SWA declares 'operational emergency'
 

Southwest Airlines declares 'operational emergency,' orders mechanics to report for work or risk firing

Southwest Airlines Co. declared an "operational emergency" Friday because of an unusually high number of aircraft taken out of service for maintenance, and ordered all scheduled mechanics to show up for work or risk being fired.

Workers "alleging illness" will be required to provide a doctor's note on their first day back at work, the Dallas-based airline said in a memo. Some workers might be called in on overtime, the carrier said, and those refusing to report for duty could face firing.

"This is not the type of communication I (or any leader) want to issue, but it is necessary to get our aircraft back in service in order to serve our customers," according to the memo from Lonnie Warren, senior director of technical operations.


The number of planes taken out of service recently has more than doubled from the daily average of about 20, Southwest said in a statement, "with no common theme among the reported items." The carrier had 750 Boeing Co. 737 aircraft in its fleet at the end of 2018, and operational planners have been working to minimize the impact on customers.

"We are requiring all hands on deck to address maintenance items so that we may promptly return aircraft to service," the airline said.

O Rings
Separately, Southwest alerted the Federal Aviation Administration about a maintenance issue involving the suitability of engine fuel-pump filter seals, or O-rings, on a limited number of planes, the regulator said in a statement. The airline completed the necessary repairs, the FAA said.

Southwest said all 22 affected aircraft have been returned to service.


The carrier has been in contract talks with the union representing mechanics for more than six years. Members of the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association, representing 2,700 Southwest workers, rejected a tentative contract agreement in September.

In 2017, Southwest accused the union of encouraging members to refuse overtime assignments in order to pressure the company in contract talks. A lawsuit filed by the airline was suspended in 2018 after an initial agreement was reached.

A statement posted Friday on the union's website from national director Bret Oestreich accused Southwest of creating the emergency.

"This declaration ... occurs just (11) days after a CBS News report detailing the efforts of Southwest maintenance to resist coercive pressure to ignore aircraft damage and the FAA's confirmation of the degraded safety culture at Southwest," the statement read. "Unfortunately, Southwest's response has been to increase the level of coercion and further degrade safety. Southwest operates with the lowest ratio of technicians-to-aircraft of any major carrier."

Oestreich urged union members "not to be baited into acts of defiance that will be characterized as insubordination. We must follow the adage 'work now, grieve later.' Work hard, be productive, and let us get those broken planes back into service in an airworthy condition."

He stressed that he wasn't calling for an unlawful job action, which would "further complicate our effort to achieve an equitable agreement. We are only asking that we be permitted to perform our job in accordance with federal law - nothing more and nothing less."

Mary Schlangenstein, Bloomberg, and The Dallas Morning News reported this story.

That’s gonna end well...


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Our mechanics seem oddly attached to keeping the work in-house. I support them 100%. From what I’ve heard, the “consultants” that are helping SWA are from the team that broke the mechanics at NWA.

Saw a few SWA aircraft at Pemco in TPA this week.

Sorry but he's over here at Spirit! If SWA starts to hire "replacements" then you'll know it's get bad. I don't see that happening.

You mean the strike 14 years ago. Do you still think that team is around?

.................

Landon Nitchke (spelling?) is in a high up position with the mechanics and was instrumental with bringing on the scabs during the NWA strike. He is loathed by SWA mechanics.

Why isn’t SWAPA making some bag tags for us showing support for our mechanics’ plight of being strung along for almost seven years now?

Not a bad idea.

Let this be another lesson to us.
Scope is easy to give away and tough to claw back. The company is doing everything they can to outsource heavy maintenance.
I am watching this very closely, because the new VP of labor relations is making his name in this contract negotiation. If he can break the mechanics' union or even divide them enough to get the company asks (more outsourced maintenance) then he will be emboldened during the Super Bowl of section 6 negotiations, the pilots. He already has a track record of being very anti pilot and anti union.
The question lies, how far is the company willing to let this go? Things are looking pretty dark on the horizon. They have my support for sure.