Southwest Airlines planes are seen at the AustinBergstrom International Airport in Austin, Texas on January 22, 2023. Americans are gearing up for an expensive and crowded summer vacation season, and the travel industry has some kinks to iron out. Staffing shortages, a recent history of meltdowns and safety concerns aren't exactly inspiring confidence in fliers. Adding to the mix of variables, pilots from multiple carriers have voted to strike.
Jim Higgins, a former airline pilot and union leader who is now an aviation professor at the University of North Dakota, said compensation is always a big issue for labor groups. But for pilots, work rule issues are "really, really big," he said. Garth Thompson, chair of the United Master Executive Council of the Air Line Pilots Association, said negotiators have spent years on work-life issues such as more schedule predictability and limiting the company's ability to reassign pilots to work on days off and reserve provisions.
"It's anything but a cooling-off period," Higgins said. "The clock starts ticking on a strike, or what we call self-help." Management could also take their own action, including imposing a contract or enforcing an employee lockout. "As you board your next United flight, we thank you and stand ready to deliver the outstanding experience you expect from our airline," the letter said.
"If I was a passenger, I would keep my eye on the airlines that are going through these," he said, especially if mediation fails and parties enter a cooling-off period. "I would keep my eye on it for the summer." That may mean booking summer travel with an airline that doesn't have looming labor issues. For example, Vlitas said he's not really worried about most legacy carriers. "Delta, United, Alaska Air, Jet Blue - they're all good airlines," he said.
After Southwest pilots voted to authorize a strike Thursday, the airline released a statement reiterating that the workers were not on strike.
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