Negotiations between Southwest Airlines and the union representing its pilots, Southwest Airlines Pilots Association (SWAPA), have seemingly reached an deadlock. Despite the lack of progress in direction of an settlement, the National Mediation Board has now determined that negotiations should proceed, stopping a possible strike.
The SWAPA submitted a request in July to federal mediators to pause negotiations with airline administration. The request denial signifies that the union will probably be pressured to barter. Captain Casey Murray, SWAPA President, instructed Bloomberg, “We are further away today than the day we filed for release, which is truly the definition of an impasse.”
According to Simple Flying, Southwest administration claims that they’ve made “scheduling adjustments to address workplace quality-of-life issues for our pilots.” SWAPA disagrees, noting that pilot fatigue is barely getting worse. The union additionally acknowledged that it provided options to the systemic failures that brought about the mass cancellation meltdown final December. Meanwhile, Southwest has threatened to furlough over 1,200 pilots because it arms out $4 million in inventory compensation to executives.
If the request was accepted, there would have been a 30-day cooling-off interval earlier than the following stage. The dispute would have gone earlier than a Presidential Emergency Board or escalated to a strike. Talks gave the impression to be hurtling in direction of a strike after a SWAPA strike authorization vote in May handed with 99 % of collaborating pilots voting in favor. Now, the pilots are pressured to remain on the desk, hold flying and generate income for the airline.
Source: jalopnik.com