Tag Archives: Southwest Airlines

The Dallas Morning News reports: Southwest Airlines and the union representing its pilots say that crew members didn’t call out of work sick to protest vaccine mandates and cripple the carrier’s operations during the busy holiday weekend. The Dallas-based airline has canceled more than 2,000 flights since Friday afternoon, citing a mix of bad weather, air traffic control issues and …

CNN Business reports: The long weekend got a bit longer for Southwest customers after the airline canceled more than 2,000 flights Friday through Sunday. The world’s largest low-cost carrier canceled three of every 10 departures it had scheduled on Sunday and the disruption continued into Monday, a federal holiday, with 337 flights — or about one in 10 — canceled …

USA Today reports: Stranded Southwest passengers across the country are struggling with a second day of mass flight cancellations by the nation’s largest domestic airline. Southwest has canceled 1,006 Sunday flights as of 11 a.m. ET, according to flight tracker FlightAware. That’s 27% of the the airline’s scheduled flights and the highest of any U.S. airline by a wide margin. …

The Associated Press reports: Southwest Airlines on Monday became the latest U.S. airline to require its employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Southwest has 54,000 employees. The Dallas-based company said its workers must be fully vaccinated by Dec. 8 in order to remain at the airline. Employees can seek approval to skip the shots due to medical or religious reasons. …

The Hill reports: Southwest Airlines will provide vaccinated workers with extra pay, according to a company memo sent to employees Wednesday, joining other airlines in pushing employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19. The Dallas-based company will provide two days of bonus pay, or 13 trip segments of extra pay for flight attendants and pilots, to employees who show proof of …

USA Today reports: Southwest Airlines does not plan to resume onboard alcohol sales until at least January, according to a memo sent to flight attendants on Friday. The timeline is tied to the extension of the federal mask mandate on airplanes and at airports. “With the mask mandate being extended to January 18, 2022, there are no current plans to …

CBS Los Angeles reports: A California woman now faces federal assault and interfering with a flight crew charges after she allegedly attacked a Southwest Airlines flight attendant on a flight from San Diego to Sacramento in May. The incident occurred, according to prosecutors, after the flight attendant asked the woman to place her mask above her nose. Vyvianna Quinonez, the …

The Associated Press reports: A retired Southwest Airlines pilot was sentenced to probation Friday after pleading guilty to exposing his genitals to a female first officer and watching pornography on a laptop during a flight from Philadelphia to Florida last year. Michael Haak, 60, apologized and expressed remorse for his actions before U.S. Magistrate Judge J. Mark Coulson sentenced him …

USA Today reports: Southwest Airlines has ditched its plans to resume alcohol sales in June and July given a spike in in-flight incidents, including a an altercation between a flight attendant and passenger that sent the flight attendant to the hospital Sunday. “Given the recent uptick in industry-wide incidents of passenger disruptions in-flight, we have made the decision to pause …

Washington DC’s NBC News affiliate reports: Multiple federal law enforcement officials and sources confirm a former Southwest Airlines pilot is being charged with committing a “lewd” indecent act mid-flight from Philadelphia to Orlando in August. A court filing obtained by the News4 I-Team said Michael Haak “intentionally committed an act of lewd, indecent and obscene exposure of his genitals in …

SFGate.com reports: In the March 12 recording, the pilot says, “Fuck this place, goddamn liberal fucks.” He then continues, making several other curse-word-laden comments before being interrupted by what seems to be an air traffic controller. “Fucking weirdos, probably driving around in fucking Hyundais, fucking roads and shit that go slow as fuck,” and, “You don’t have balls unless you’re …

The Wall Street Journal report: A government report to be released in coming days says Southwest Airlines Co. failed to prioritize safety and the airline’s regulator, the Federal Aviation Administration, hasn’t done enough about it. Southwest pilots flew more than 17 million people on aircraft with unconfirmed maintenance records over a two-year period, according to a U.S. Department of Transportation …

The Associated Press reports: Federal regulators have threatened to ground dozens of Southwest Airlines jets if the airline can’t confirm that the planes, which it bought used from foreign operators, meet all safety standards. The Federal Aviation Administration said Monday it has validated some major repairs to the planes, and it is asking Southwest for more frequent updates until the …

Arizona Central reports: A Phoenix-based Southwest Airlines flight attendant has sued the airline, accusing the Dallas-based carrier of retaliation after she reported spotting two pilots livestreaming video from the lavatory to an iPad in the cockpit on one of her flights. Renee Steinaker was working as a flight attendant on Flight 1088 between Pittsburgh and Phoenix. The suit alleges that …

CNBC reports: Shares of Southwest Airlines tumbled Thursday after the low-cost carrier said it doesn’t plan to fly the grounded Boeing 737 Max until next year, warned about higher-than-expected costs and announced it’s pulling out of Newark Liberty International Airport. The airline removed the Max from its schedules until Jan. 5, the latest of any U.S. airline and a sign …

The Orlando Sentinel reports: Southwest flight — a Boeing 737 MAX that was grounded after two crashes — with just two pilots aboard made an emergency landing Tuesday afternoon at Orlando International Airport, a spokeswoman said. The pilots were flying to California when they encountered engine problems about 10 minutes after takeoff, said Rod Johnson, spokesman for the Greater Orlando …

The New York Daily News reports: A Newark-bound Southwest Airlines flight made an emergency landing in Cleveland Wednesday after a window cracked. Photographs taken by a passenger on Southwest Airlines flight WN957, which took off from Chicago Midway International, show a broken window next to a row of passenger seats. A portion of the window’s glass appeared to be missing. …

CNN reports: Passengers aboard Southwest Airlines Flight 1380 received a $5,000 check after a deadly engine failure that led to an emergency landing in Philadelphia. In a letter to passengers, the airline expressed “sincere apologies” for the fatal incident and included the check, said Kamau Siwatu, who was aboard the flight. He was one of at least three passengers who …

Reuters reports: Some major customers of Boeing Co’s popular 737 jets said on Wednesday they were inspecting engines of the type that blew apart mid-air on a fatal Southwest Airlines Co flight on Tuesday. European regulators this month began requiring an inspection by early next year, and a person familiar with the matter said U.S. regulators were near a similar …

CBS News reports: A Southwest Airlines plane made an emergency landing at Philadelphia’s airport with what appears to be a damaged engine on Tuesday. Passengers walked off the plane on the tarmac at the airport. Passenger Marty Martinez did a brief Facebook Live posting with the caption “Something is wrong with our plane! It appears we are going down! Emergency …