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Latest news, review on Southwest Airlines.  Such as staffing issues, pilots, go slow, layoffs, safety concerns, financial health, on time record etc. etc.  Will they strike go bankrupt after I've bought my ticket!  In other words will they still be in business in three months?

    

Whose on strike today?

​24 August 2014 Southwest after more than two years of direct talks with Southwest Airlines, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) has called on National Mediation Board 

28 March 2013 Rumblings in baggage handling department. Southwest management tossing around the idea of bringing in an out side source for handling wivb.com

23 March 2012 No codesharing between Southwest and Air Tran Airways till next year.

Southwest Airlines Flight Attendants
27 December 2011 Problem how to integrate seniority with Air Tran Airways employees. 
Transport Workers Union Local 556 represents 10,000 Southwest flight attendants.
Association of Flight Attendants Council 57 represents 2,400 Air Tran flight attendants.

Unions come up with a deal, job security for Southwest Flight Attendants regarding seniority and new flight attendants base in Atlanta.
Southwest airlines bought Air Tran May, 2011. For Air Tran flight attendants pay raise and benefits.
Union members still have to give the  "A Okay"

Also to vote on a deal are the flight instructors and mechanics.

17, June, 2010 Southwest Finds Shipment of Heads on a Plane nbcdfw.com

Nov 2, 2009 Pilots for Southwest Airlines have approved a 5-year labor contract after narrowly rejecting another proposal in June.

Mid-air terror as hole opens up on packed passenger plane dailymail.co.uk

June, 09 Southwest has accumulated $2.3 billion.in cash. Jet fuels on its way up again,

4 June, 09 Pilots at Southwest Airlines Co. voted down a new contract that would have given them pay raises.  The union said pilots would continue to work under terms of the current contract.  51 percent voting against the five-year contract.
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13/2/09 4 Aircraft will be fitted with in flight Internet (Row 44) Phones will not work aboard aircraft. This is the first airline to test satellite technology,  Free during test period. 

6/6/08 Internet Southwest testing a system that relies on satellites rather than cellphone towers. No start date. Alaska Airlines doing same test, prefer Satellites because most of airlines flights are over water.

1/31/08  5 year agreement made with pilots  dallasnews.com

12/12/08  Ground crew picketing, at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, members of the Transport Workers Union also planned to picket at airports in Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Seattle. The union represents 7,200 ramp, operations, provisioning and freight agents. Mediators requested.

11/2/08 Labor talks between Southwest Airlines Co. and its ground workers have stalled over wages, and the union and company plan to seek federal mediation on Friday. Southwest, financially the strongest U.S. carrier. The Transport Workers Union is seeking cost-of-living wage increases on behalf of 7,200 ground workers, including ramp and freight agents. Ground workers at Southwest make more than counterparts at other U.S. airlines, but employees lower in seniority are sometimes paid less than at other carriers, according to the union. The airline is also in separate contract talks with pilots. The Transport Workers Union had planned to ask the National Mediation Board to declare negotiations at an impasse, and the company agreed to go along with the request this week, according to a union official businessweek.com



10/15/08  Southwest Airlines posts 1st loss in 17 years yahoo.com

10/1/08 Southwest will add no more than 10 new Boeing Co. 737 planes to its fleet next year, down from an earlier projection of 14 bloomberg.com

9/10/08 Southwest attacks foes, fees suntimes.com

9/2/08 Southwest Airlines has now extended their flight schedule and airfares from January 9, 2009 to March 6, 2009. This new extended schedule and airfares, by Southwest Airlines, has forced most of the legacy major airlines including American Airlines, United Airlines, Continental Airlines, US Airways, Delta Airlines and Northwest Airlines to roll back their airfares to match these new lower airfares for travel through March 6, 2009" - states Tom Parsons, CEO and founder of discount airfare website Bestfares.com. 
tradingmarkets.com

Southwest Airlines Co. must pay a proposed $10.2-million fine by Aug. 29 or the matter of not grounding planes that missed safety inspections will be referred to the U.S. Attorney's office, the Federal Aviation Administration said newsday.com

7/23/08 Parents fly right msnbc

19/07/08  Try see if this links stays for a bit, a forum.  Southwest's 7 secrets for success forums.jetcareers.com/general-topic

9 July 08, Southwest Airlines teaming with WestJet to fly international skies bizjournals.com/baltimore

6/26/08  Southwest is putting nine new flights into cities including Denver; Oakland, California; and Fort Lauderdale, Florida as rivals pull out. UAL Corp.'s United is ending five international routes, and Northwest will drop two and suspend another bloomberg.com

Pittsburgh to lobby Southwest for more flights  usatoday

Southwest not yet reserving seats past October

6/11/08 The carrier hasn't added fees. It hasn't cut capacity. It hasn't grounded planes abcnews.go.com

From May 28 through June 3, visitors to TBJ's Web site were asked, "Which major airline has the best service out of Raleigh-Durham International Airport?  bizjournals

5/23/08  Has no plans to follow the lead of American Airlines, which plans to impose a $15 charge on the first checked bag for each passenger.

5/12/08  Here we go, man arrested for refusing to hang up cell phone.  Charged with disorderly conduct.  police report, Mr. Jones was asked to turn off his cellphone and responded, "Kiss my [expletive]." When asked again, he said, "Kiss my [expletive]. Not happening." Airlines can be fined up to $25,000 if they permit cellphone use during a flight, and individuals also can face fines.   Mr. Jones was unavailable for comment Monday, but his spokesman, Mark Clayton, said the businessman had received a message that his father's heart had stopped beating and tried several times to reach officials in the cardiac unit where his father was being treated. "He did express regrets for any inconvenience, but due to the life and death circumstances, he felt he needed to make the call," Mr. Clayton said.  However, mobile-phone use has been approved by European regulators, and a satellite-based service is being tested by Air France on one of its Airbus A318 planes for flights within Europe and North Africa.

4/8/08 Southwest Airlines in top three for low cost carriers per redorbit

4/2/08  Flying still safe tampabay.com

3/11/08 Southwest Airlines puts three workers on leave. reviews maintenance  

3/6/08 Federal regulators are pressing for a $3-million penalty against Southwest airlines for allegedly "failing to properly inspect nearly four dozen older planes for potentially hazardous structural cracks, according to people familiar with the details," The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) writes. "The penalty is expected to be the largest imposed against any passenger carrier in about two decades," the paper adds. The Dallas Morning News (free registration) says the government's case centers on Southwest's failure to perform mandatory inspections to check for "potentially hazardous structural cracks."

Southwest Airlines says it missed the inspections as in inadvertent oversight. The carrier voluntarily self-reported the incident and completed the required inspections within 10 days of doing so, according to the Journal. As for the inspections, the Journal says "six of the 46 affected aircraft turned out to have cracks -- some as long as four inches -- in the fuselage, according to one person familiar with details." The Journal adds that no accidents or incidents resulted from the problem.

News of the episode has prompted the Department of Transportation and a Congressional committee to look into why the FAA did not temporarily ground the planes after learning of the oversight. The Journal writes the FAA is being investigated for lax oversight in Dallas and "whether the agency is equipped to prevent such incidents with other airlines." As for Southwest Airlines, the carrier says it's not aware of an impending penalty and the company says it would be surprised by a fine "considering it was Southwest that found, disclosed and fixed this issue last March, which the FAA accepted and then determined the matter to be closed."


Southwest Airlines earnings,  The more things change at Southwest Airlines, the more they stay the same per atwonline.com

Southwest Airlines:The carrier's long winning streak is in jeopardy because of higher costs for fuel 

Stock options not good enough this time around.  Poor stock performance in recent years has ground workers seeking more traditional compensation. Expected to announce a profit for both periods today.  1/23/08

From River City to Sin City and back, nonstop by  Jacksonville.com

Cut Backs 12/05/07
New boarding system  11/08/07

Southwest reducing free checked bags to two.
Southwest Airlines opens new crew base in Los Angeles 


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John Conley, TWU's air transport division director. Represents 25,000 workers over 7 sectors.

Air Line Pilots Association International union. ALPA

National Mediation Board
total work force of 35,000