Just four days after insisting to this reporter that Southwest Airlines management is “not getting the job done,” Paul Jackson, the head of the Southwest Airlines Pilots’ Association (SWAPA), submitted his resignation, effective Dec. 31,2015, to the union’s Board of Directors Tuesday.
Jackson’s exit comes as rumors continue to swirl that Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) CEO Gary Kelly is eager to orchestrate another airline merger, possibly with JetBlue (NASDAQ: BLU) or Frontier Airlines.
But first, sources say, Kelly must get new contracts with key labor groups — including pilots, flight attendants and ramp agents. It’s a goal that has eluded Kelly for years, with failed attempts to get new contracts with flight attendants and pilots coming just in the past several months.
In his resignation letter Jackson said an “institutional change in direction” was necessary at SWAPA, which represents more than 8,000 Southwest pilots, including more than 1,100 domiciled in Chicago, where Southwest has its largest hub at Midway Airport.
Jackson’s comments to this reporter last Friday came after the union rank and file rejected a tentative contract that had been negotiated under Jackson’s tenure as union president. In his letter, Jackson also said the entire negotiating team that helped craft the tentative contract have resigned their roles, a SWAPA spokesman said.
SWAPA vice-president Mike Panebianco will serve in Jackson’s place until election of a new union president is completed by January of 2016, the SWAPA spokesman said. The Board and Panebianco will likely have a hand in appointing a new negotiating team.
The SWAPA spokesman confirmed that Jackson supported the tentative contract presented to rank and file union pilots, a majority of whom ultimately rejected it.
Events at SWAPA surrounding their contract vote surprisingly mirror — with one notable difference — those at Southwest’s flight attendant union, Transport Workers Union Local 556, which represents some 13,500 unionized Southwest flight attendants, including more than 1,800 domiciled in Chicago.
Local 556 rank and file members resoundingly rejected a tentative contract in July, and then pushed for the resignation of Local 556 president Audrey Stone, who was strongly in favor of the proposed contract that irked many flight attendants. But sources said today Stone has resisted efforts by upset Local 556 members to have her removed. Stone reportedly remains in her union leadership role, even as it is unclear when Local 556 might get another tentative deal. “We have received no communication regarding the state of things (from our union),” said one Southwest flight attendant source today.
A SWAPA spokesman said mediated negotiations between the pilots union and Southwest management might not begin until early spring of 2016. But if management and the union mutually agreed to meet without a mediator, talks could begin much sooner, the spokesman indicated.
Meanwhile, sources say Southwest CEO Gary Kelly urgently wants to get deals done with the pilots, flight attendants and ramp agents — all of whom have been negotiating for years with management — so he can proceed with another merger now that the AirTran integration is complete.
Sources say JetBlue or Frontier Airlines are two likely targets for Kelly. JetBlue would instantly give Southwest a much larger presence in the massive New York City market, as well as access to JetBlue’s spiffy terminal at John F. Kennedy International Airport. JetBlue also offers a business class transcontinental product that Southwest could adopt if it wants to start transcontinental flights and attract more high-margin business customers.
Frontier would give Southwest added heft in the the west and the mountain states region, another area where the low fare behemoth has been growing in recent years.
However Kelly’s possible plans play out, some observers say Southwest is likely to be a vastly-changed airline in another decade. “I don’t think you’ll recognized Southwest in 10 years,” predicted one source.
Chicago Business Journal
Pilot Union Leader Resigns At Southwest Airlines
