Southwest "delays" ???

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RyanShort1

RyanShort1

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Anyone else seeing interesting tidbits on the Southwest "delays" this weekend?
 
Rumors of an “unanticipated staffing shortage” at Jacksonville center when a bunch of controllers walked out on strike?
 
bflynn said:
Rumors of an “unanticipated staffing shortage” at Jacksonville center when a bunch of controllers walked out on strike?
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I thought that faa controllers were prohibited from going on strike?
 
bflynn said:
Rumors of an “unanticipated staffing shortage” at Jacksonville center when a bunch of controllers walked out on strike?
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Not according to what I've read. AA, UA had few cancellations out of JAX vs SW.
 
Here
 

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If it's an ATC action, why just SW flights affected? Rumor I'm hearing is SW pilots are protesting Vaccine mandate.
 
SWA is running very lean on crews and staff. They are least able to absorb disruptions. ATC facilities are also running short staffed.

SWA also seems to have a larger percentage of pilots who are not planning to comply with the mandate. Perhaps they're waiting for the last minute to report their compliance, or perhaps they're planning on early retirement. In any case, those planning to leave soon may be burning their sick banks at a higher rate than usual and the airline is unable to absorb it. Also, those who are getting last minute vaccinations are prohibited from flying, by the FAA, for 48 hours after each shot.

So, you have some weather issues, some ATC issues, maybe an increase in sick calls, and very little flexibility in the system to recover.

The tight staffing isn't new. SWA crews have been complaining about how hard they are being made to work for many months. SWA has already cut it's schedule due to short staffing. Apparently, not enough.
 
It’s not just south west. Lots of other flights canceling today. My transcontinental canceled and when I tried to jump seat home the flight was over sold due to several other flight cancellations. There have been enough that the gate agent asked me if I knew why so many flights were being canceled. None of these flights were on southwest.
 
By Nov 8 ATC must verify the Fed vax mandate. It could get interesting.
 
I’m just asking because at this point as far as I can tell this is no different than the president saying we should all eat our peas at supper. Seems like all of the companies and organizations that are requiring the vaccine and saying they have to because of government policy are full of **** and just using the government as an excuse.
 
SWA pilots union said it wasn't the pilots.
 
Checkout_my_Six said:
It’s no excuse if you’re a Fed. Many will be fired.
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I have no doubt. Wouldn’t surprise me if they all get rehired after the inevitable court case.

I think the same is true in the private sector as well. In fact there are already some court injunctions stopping termination of employees until after the courts have heard cases.
 
Checkout_my_Six said:
It’s no excuse if you’re a Fed. Many will be fired.
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Yup. Though I have been suggesting to the ones in my shop that they do a deferred retirement if you are not able to retire. That way you get to hang onto everything in your retirement fund. If you get fired they will take back everything they put in plus everything that the matching funds earned. I expect 3/4 of my shop will leave. We were already understaffed, so this will be interesting to watch. I am vaccinated but will retire anyway.
 
Morgan3820 said:
Yup. Though I have been suggesting to the ones in my shop that they do a deferred retirement if you are not able to retire. That way you get to hang onto everything in your retirement fund. If you get fired they will take back everything they put in plus everything that the matching funds earned. I expect 3/4 of my shop will leave. We were already understaffed, so this will be interesting to watch. I am vaccinated but will retire anyway.
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I'm a Fed in DC, and I expect pretty much zero of our staff to leave due to the vaccine mandate. You really see three-quarters of your staff willing to quit rather than just get a vaccine?
 
AlleyCat67 said:
I'm a Fed in DC, and I expect pretty much zero of our staff to leave due to the vaccine mandate. You really see three-quarters of your staff willing to quit rather than just get a vaccine?
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You’re in a very liberal area….there will be a few in DC, but many more outside the beltway.
 
bflynn said:
SWA pilots union said it wasn't the pilots.
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Bullish….
Story I am getting is that WN employees are hopping mad about the mandate. Remember where most of thier crews are from, and the HQ is, it isn’t the northeast.

Pilot’s Union filed suit Friday Claiming this to be a violation of the CBA and the RLA. Employees who intend to retire because of this, or just let the company fire them, are burning banked time and vacay days now.

Remember, Southwest has the most loyal workforce in the business, and this has left a lot of them feeling betrayed. The Palace is not what it used to be, it has changed a lot in just the last few years.
 
Can any of our Florida pilots speak to the alleged ATC shortages? Were the towers short-staffed?
 
Well, regardless, the SWA union said it wasn’t their pilots. Could be flight crew, maybe dispatchers or just some IT people who dropped the ball.

despite being in Texas, SWA has a rather liberal workforce. I agree, they’ve been headed down for a while.
 
DavidWhite said:
A private company being able to do what they want?

If it was a cake for a gay wedding I’m sure the same people ****ed about the mandate would be absolutely SCREECHING about a companies right to do what it wants.
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1. Airlines being private companies is a laughable argument. More like government & corporations walking hand in hand, which is actually leaning fascist, and different from a sole proprietor being forced to do something antithetical to their personal religious beliefs.
2. Hey, a pilot that hasn't died in a "pandemic" so deadly that an aviation professional travelling around the country for a year isn't dead yet, should drop 20 years of safe flying for a vaccine he doesn't need, that could endanger the rest of his career? Yeah, not buying that. Mandates are evil.
3. There's a difference between discriminating against a customer (Last I checked pilots aren't kicking people off planes for their morality or lack thereof) and being told that your personal medical choices to try and stay medically fit are no longer allowed.
 
bflynn said:
Well, regardless, the SWA union said it wasn’t their pilots. Could be flight crew, maybe dispatchers or just some IT people who dropped the ball.

despite being in Texas, SWA has a rather liberal workforce. I agree, they’ve been headed down for a while.
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If the Union says it was their pilots, they get sued for an “ illegal” work stoppage by management. So even if it is the pilots, the Union will still say it wasn’t, because THEY did not organize it.
 
RyanShort1 said:
Hey, a pilot that hasn't died in a "pandemic" so deadly that an aviation professional travelling around the country for a year isn't dead yet, should drop 20 years of safe flying for a vaccine he doesn't need, that could endanger the rest of his career? Yeah, not buying that. Mandates are evil.
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I know a pilot who is having medical issues due to an arrhythmia from COVID. I know another previously healthy(ish) mid 50s pilot who is currently fighting for his life because of COVID. He was a staunch denier until he ended up in the hospital.

There’s been a lot of Herman Cain awards handed out in the last 8 months….

I also absolutely love that this is pretty much the only country in the world with widespread access to vaccines that has a large portion of the country outright saying no.

Most places in the world are smart enough to view it as a socially responsible and decent thing to do. Not here in the good old #1 USA. Imagine dying of a preventable disease because some dude on the TV lied to you.
 
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FlyingElvii said:
If the Union says it was their pilots, they get sued for an “ illegal” work stoppage by management. So even if it is the pilots, the Union will still say it wasn’t, because THEY did not organize it.
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Bingo. SWAPA is doing the bare minimum due dilligence i would expect in order not to end up like spirit did in 2017. The rollin coal crowd is self-immolating as we speak over on APC, and swapa is trying their best to distance themselves from the trainwreck that theyre getting coopted into.

Lulz. The upper middle class pearl clutching on this one is truly epic.

And IBTL.
 
DavidWhite said:
I know a pilot who is having medical issues due to an arrhythmia from COVID. I know another previously healthy(ish) mid 50s pilot who is currently fighting for his life because of COVID. He was a staunch denier until he ended up in the hospital.
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Funny that in my church circles more people have had issues with the vax than without.
There’s been a lot of Herman Cain awards handed out in the last 8 months….
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"a lot" might be an overstatement.
I also absolutely love that this is pretty much the only country in the world with widespread access to vaccines that has a large portion of the country outright saying no.
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There are a LOT of things that we do that are frowned upon by more slavish societies. Like my evening flight in my Luscombe this evening without a radio without begging or paying for permission to fly.
Most places in the world are smart enough to view it as a socially responsible and decent thing to do. Not here in the good old #1 USA. Imagine dying of a preventable disease because some dude on the TV lied to you.
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That goes both ways... people that don't trust big pharma feel almost exactly the same way about some dude on TV lying.
 
hindsight2020 said:
Bingo. SWAPA is doing the bare minimum due dilligence i would expect in order not to end up like spirit did in 2017. The rollin coal crowd is self-immolating as we speak over on APC, and swapa is trying their best to distance themselves from the trainwreck that theyre getting coopted into.

Lulz. The upper middle class pearl clutching on this one is truly epic.

And IBTL.
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