Southwest Airlines Pilot Association calls for Strike Authorization Vote

Southwest Airlines Pilot Association President President Captain Casey Murray issued a call for a Strike Authorization Vote from the Association’s membership. The association said, "This historic action on the part of the pilot union comes in the wake of Southwest’s largest meltdown and the utter lack of meaningful progress on a contract negotiation, with scheduling work rules and information technology asks in particular, that has been ongoing for more than three years." Captain Murray stated, "While your Board of Directors and Executive Officers have had many strategic discussions on timing, I think it is best to consider what our customers have been through over the past several years and the past several weeks. It was the lack of discussion or commitment by our leadership team to rectify these issues for our passengers and our pilots that drove us to make the decision to carry forward on this path afforded to us by the Railway Labor Act." The vote will take place beginning on May 1 and will ultimately give the pilots the ability to strike once released to self-help. The vote will be counted at the end of May. Murray stated, "It is not a decision we have taken lightly, but given the trajectory of our current leadership group, we have little faith in the stability and future of our airline." Reference Link