Southwest Airline Pilots Poised for Potential Strike

Southwest Airlines pilots are seeking to be released from a federal mediation process related to their ongoing negotiations for a new labor contract.

The Southwest Airlines Pilots Association (SWAPA) filed their formal request yesterday with the National Mediation Board (NMB).

According to a statement issued by SWAPA, the labor organization has been in in negotiations with Southwest Airlines for more than three years and has been engaged in federal mediation since last September.

The organization’s statement says “SWAPA negotiators have become increasingly frustrated with Southwest’s lack of commitment to negotiating in earnest and the pace of productivity during this negotiation cycle.”

SWAPA President Casey Murray said in the statement that if released from mediation, the pilot group will continue down the path “afforded to us through the Railway Labor Act (RLA).”

“It is an unfortunate situation that we find ourselves in today, however, our pilots have waited long enough for a contract,” said Murray in a statement. “We can no longer sit by as our fellow aviators are rewarded with industry leading contracts and watch as we bleed qualified new hires to our competitors. We love our airline, and we are willing to do what it takes to get Southwest back to the airline it once was.”

Dallas-based SWAPA represents more than 10,000 pilots for the airline. Last month the organization voted to authorize a possible strike amid the challenging negotiations, CNBC reported.

In the statement issued yesterday, the organization said it is hopeful that Southwest’s negotiators will make a “stronger commitment and more meaningful preparations in order to expedite a long-overdue contract that rewards the most productive 737 pilots in the industry.”

Southwest meanwhile, says it would like to see the federal mediation process continue, according to CNBC.

“We’ve continued meeting regularly with SWAPA and, in fact, made an industry-leading compensation proposal and scheduling adjustments to address workplace quality-of-life issues for our Pilots,” Southwest’s vice president, labor relations, Adam Carlisle, said in a statement. “We feel confident that mediation will continue driving us even closer to a final agreement that will benefit both our Pilots and Southwest Airlines.”