![]() The airline is blaming ATC and weather, essentially claiming it has absolutely no control over these cancelations. Southwest Airlines is experiencing a huge number of cancelations and delays this weekend, and I imagine this will continue, and likely even get worse. Given the timing here, I have a hard time imagining that it’s a total coincidence that so many pilots are calling in sick this weekend. The union claims that the airline is taking unilateral action that violates the Railway Labor Act (including requiring vaccination), which is supposed to govern relations between airlines and unions. The union now doesn’t want the airline to be able to require vaccination (in line with the expected federal mandate) until existing issues are resolved. SWAPA had already filed a lawsuit against Southwest, claiming that the airline was violating labor laws. It’s anyone’s guess what the cause of that is, but it follows the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association (SWAPA) on Friday asking a court to block the airline from requiring vaccination, in anticipation of an upcoming federal mandate. It’s my understanding that a huge number of Southwest pilots have called in sick this weekend, much more than usual. It seems that there could be something further going on. Airline operations are incredibly complex, and when a plane has a problem in one place, it can have huge issues down the line. The further issue with the airline industry is the domino effect when it comes to irregular operations. While airlines may have enough pilots and flight attendants to cover their schedules, when there are delays, cancelations, or staff call in sick, they don’t have sufficient employees on standby. Many employees took early retirement or voluntary separation packages from airlines around the start of the pandemic, and with demand having recovered so quickly, airlines now need more staff. Many major carriers in the United States are short staffed across various roles, especially with pilots and flight attendants. Staffing has been a consistent issue in the airline industry since we’ve seen a recovery in demand following the pandemic. Southwest is blaming ATC & weather for its issues What’s the real reason for Southwest’s issues? So while weather and ATC likely partially contributed to Southwest’s problems, it doesn’t tell the full story. Now, in fairness, there were some major issues with Jacksonville air traffic control there, and while Southwest has a significant presence at the airport, it doesn’t explain the extent of the issues we’ve seen. Interestingly when Southwest had an operational meltdown in June 2021, the airline blamed… wait for it… weather and ATC. Given that all airlines use the same ATC system, and there’s large overlap in terms of hubs between these airlines, something isn’t adding up. On Sunday American canceled 63 flights (2% of the schedule), Delta canceled three flights (less than 1% of the schedule), and United canceled six flights (less than 1% of the schedule).On Saturday American canceled 66 flights (2% of the schedule), Delta canceled 16 flights (less than 1% of the schedule), and United canceled 11 flights (less than 1% of the schedule).Why is Southwest experiencing so many cancelations this weekend? The airline blames this on “ATC issues and disruptive weather.” There’s only one small problem with that - it seems like it’s only Southwest impacted by ATC and weather issues, which sure doesn’t add up: Southwest blames ATC & weather for cancelations On Sunday, October 10, 2021, Southwest canceled 1,007 flights (27% of the schedule) and delayed 120 flights (3% of the schedule)Įxpect the number of cancelations (and especially the number of delays) to increase massively throughout the rest of the day, and also into Monday and Tuesday, since there’s a huge domino effect to airline irregular operations.On Saturday, October 9, 2021, Southwest canceled 808 flights (24% of the schedule) and delayed 1,154 flights (35% of the schedule).On Saturday and Sunday alone, Southwest Airlines has canceled over 1,800 flights (and that’s as of 9AM on Sunday, so expect things to get worse). What’s the real reason for Southwest’s issues?.Southwest blames ATC & weather for cancelations.
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