Southwest Airlines says the ongoing ‘operational emergency’ is costing it millions of dollars a week.
Airline CEO Gary Kelly said its relationship with customers is being harmed and will ultimately lead to reduced profit sharing for workers.
Kelly addressed the issue at the JPMorgan aviation conference in New York but declined to give specifics.
Flight cancelations have spiked since mid-February with the airline blaming mechanics for needlessly taking aircraft out of service for unnecessary maintenance issues.
Southwest says the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association is using the issue as a bargaining tool in labor contract negotiations which have been ongoing for years without resolution.
Kelly described this as a ‘bad faith bargaining tactic.’
This is flatly denied by the union which said the role of the mechanics is to ‘protect everyone who steps on that aircraft and there is zero evidence presented of a non-legitimate discrepancy.’
It accused Southwest of creating ‘unnecessary fear’ and attempting to ‘distract the public from Southwest’s own degrading safety standards.’
