Southwest Airlines and pilots make progress toward deal after months of icy relations

Southwest Airlines and its pilots are working to reach a new contract deal ahead of the busy holiday travel season.

The over 9,000 pilots at Southwest, represented by the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, are still in mediation, but have scheduled meetings with the National Mediation Board through Nov. 30. While this date isn’t a hard deadline to get a deal done, it has shown that the Dallas-based carrier and its pilots union are serious about getting a deal quickly. Southwest is the only remaining major carrier without a pilot contract after pilots at Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and Fort Worth-based American Airlines have all come to an agreement.

Casey Murray, president of the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association said that although some contentious items are on the table, like pilot scheduling, there has been improvement over the last month as senior leadership has stepped in.

However, pilots are looking for a competitive deal ahead of the holidays, especially after Southwest’s last holiday season when the carrier, unprepared for the freezing temperatures, ice and snow in late December, was forced to cancel flights and those disruptions cascaded across its network as the company’s technology was unable to keep up with the need to reassign pilots and flight attendants.

“(A contract) will give certainty to our customers,” Murray said.

Murray pointed to the 250 pilots that have left the Dallas-based carrier since the beginning of the year as an indicator that a contract needs to happen now or else the airline will continue to lose workers to the competition.

Southwest, however, remains confident that both sides are making progress.

“The Southwest team is committed to reaching an agreement — one that’s good for our pilots, our company, and our customers,” said Adam Carlisle, vice president of labor relations at Southwest. “We’re pleased with the recent progress of negotiations, and the mediation process continues to drive the negotiating teams closer to a deal.”

Still in mediation are Southwest’s 19,000 flight attendants represented by Transport Workers Union Local 556. The executive board of the flight attendant union voted down a tentative contract in June.