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
Passenger with dementia forgotten on-board Southwest flight
A WOMAN boarded a plane for a short trip, but when it landed and everyone left, she remained in her seat. Nobody realised.
So she continued on with another load of passengers to a destination she never intended on visiting, flying a total of 14 hours instead of four.
Because 82-year-old Dolores Runnels has dementia, she just stayed on the plane. She was meant to fly from Dallas to Houston then to Greenville, US.
Instead, she ended up on the other side of the country, going from Dallas to Houston to Greenville to Baltimore to Chicago and then back to Greenville.
All the while her baffled daughter Melody Allega was waiting at Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport.
“I get to baggage claim. Her bags are there, but there is no mother,” Ms Allega told WYFF4.com.
Nobody seemed to know what had happened to her mum.
“I just kept thinking about how scared she would be to show up somewhere and not realise where she was or how she got there or how to get home.”
Finally, it became disturbingly clear what had happened — she hadn’t been escorted off the plane by Southwest staff.
That’s despite Runnel’s family contacting the airline prior to the flight.
Her son had even received an email response from Southwest confirming they acknowledged Ms Runnels had dementia and outlining a plan to get her safely to Greenville.
“Who counted that plane? That’s not just an old person that needs help or a person with dementia that needs help, that’s national security biting the dust,” he said.
Allegra said her mum was left “hungry and confused” and she wanted the airline to apologise.
Southwest Airlines spokesman Dan Landson told WYFF4.com: “A passenger travelling alone on Flight 486 from Houston Hobby to Greenville-Spartanburg arrived at her intended destination but did not get off the aircraft and travelled on with other passengers to Baltimore/Washington.
“Upon her arrival at BWI and after learning of the situation with this customer, our airport employees did what they do best — they jumped into action, bought her food, and diligently worked on flight arrangements to get her back Greenville-Spartanburg that day.
“At Southwest, we consider each customer an extended part of our family. We’ll complete an internal review of what happened.”
News.com.au
Passenger strangles fellow passenger over seat recline
A man aboard a San Francisco-bound flight was detained Sunday night after he apparently tried to strangle a fellow passenger who had leaned her seat back shortly after the plane took off from Los Angeles International Airport, authorities and witnesses said.
Southwest Flight 2010 had been in the air for just over 10 minutes when around 10:43 p.m. the scuffle broke out between two passengers who were not traveling together, prompting the captain to declare an emergency and turn back, police said.
After the plane landed, the FBI detained one of the passengers, who was not identified, and authorities launched an investigation, said airport police Officer Rob Pedregon.
“No arrest has been made at this time, and the investigation is continuing,” said Laura Eimiller, a spokeswoman with the FBI’s Los Angeles field office. “The allegations involve the assault of a fellow passenger, but no charges have been filed.”
A woman aboard the flight took a photo from inside the plane of several police cars on the runway and described the altercation in an Instagram post written in German.
The woman, who goes by @mel.anita, said nine police cars surrounded the plane after a man grabbed the passenger by the throat when she tilted her seat back.
The 136 passengers on the flight were put on board another plane and arrived in San Francisco at 1:43 a.m. Monday — five hours behind schedule, officials said.
“Our crew members are trained to ensure the safe operation of every flight we operate,” said Dan Landson, a spokesman for Southwest. “Initial information is that the flight attendants swiftly coordinated with pilots on the flight deck to get the aircraft on the ground safely and quickly.”
SF Gate