DALAS - Hundreds of uniformed Southwest Airlines pilots stood in perfect lines on Tuesday in the scorching Texas sun at Dallas Love Field, holding signs blaming Southwest management for delays and cancellations that upset passengers.
From time to time, the driver would blow the horn or encourage. Most of the passengers headed to the security checkpoint inside the terminal.
The protest, which the union said gathered up to 1,300 pilots, was the latest example of airline workers trying to put pressure on companies by demanding higher wages directly to the flying public.
Federal law prevents airline unions from conducting legal strikes. Contract negotiations usually drag on - often for years. LUV Southwest,
flight attendants have been working under an old contract since 2018.
This slow pace has led unions to look for creative ways to put pressure on management. Sometimes they vote for approval of the strike - Alaska Airlines ALK,
the pilots did so last month - although there is little chance they will leave the job.
Last week, the Airline Pilots Association, or ALPA, published an open letter to Delta Air Lines DAL,
clients, saying its members sympathize with passengers whose flights have been delayed or canceled, and blame Delta management. The union said that Delta had scheduled more flights than there were pilots, and the pilots worked record overtime hours.
Earlier this month, American Airlines AAL,
pilots picketed near the New York Stock Exchange, and before that at major airports. Some held up signs such as, “Are you frustrated with AA? So we are.”
The airline unions hope to use the strong demand for travel this summer to get an increase in salaries and benefits.
United Airlines UAL,
reached an agreement with ALPA last month. The terms were not released, but probably included a higher salary - the United CEO called it a leading proposal in the industry. The agreement has yet to be ratified by the pilots.
Two U.S. regional affiliates will give pilots a 50% salary premium until August 2024 in addition to a long-term increase. The so-called regional carriers, which operate American Eagle, Delta Connection and United Express flights, are most affected by the lack of pilots.
On Tuesday at Love Field, next to Southwest’s headquarters, pilots in sharp white short-sleeved shirts with epaulettes on their shoulders stood vigilant, holding signs reading “Operation Southwest: First to Worst” and ” Our passengers and pilots deserve better. “
Casey Murray, president of the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, a union of the airline’s 9,000 pilots, said the business had turned into a “flight mare” for pilots due to overschedule.
“There is a fight there every day. “Our fatigue rates reflect that,” he said. In the first five months of this year, pilots from the southwest reported feeling tired more than three times faster than a year ago, according to union figures, who say this raises security concerns.
In a short statement, Southwest stated that it respects the right of employees to express their opinion, “and we do not expect any disruption in the service as a result of this individual demonstration.” The airline declined to comment on the union’s concerns.
Neither the union nor the company would discuss wages or other negotiating topics.
Dallas-based Southwest has been hiring pilots since last year to replace those bought out by the airline in 2020, when the pandemic led to a drop in air traffic. The union says pilots do not receive fair compensation for handling additional flights and that Southwest uses outdated crew scheduling technology that makes it difficult for the airline to recover from even minor hiccups.
Southwest, the country’s fourth-largest airline, suffered high cancellation rates last summer and again in early October, when weather-related cancellations in Florida escalated into a multi-day crash across the country. He has had better results recently, including during Remembrance Day weekend.
It is difficult, if not impossible, to know whether picketing at airports helps unions at the negotiating table.
Pilots enjoy special respect from passengers, and when they come out in full uniform, they “create a powerful image” that passengers remember, said Henry Hartevelt, a travel analyst at Atmosphere Research Group.
Hartevelt said pilots currently have power in negotiations due to the lack of pilots and widespread delays and flight cancellations.
“But the timing is all in these negotiations,” he said. “If the economy experiences a significant slowdown and airlines see business declining and flying reduced, then the power pilots have today might be gone.