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The president of Southwest Airlines’ pilot union this week issued a call for a strike authorization vote in the aftermath of a tech meltdown at the carrier that left thousands of passengers stranded across the country.
The call for a strike comes with what the union called an “utter lack of meaningful progress on a contract negotiation.”
“It is not a decision we have taken lightly, but given the trajectory of our current leadership group, we have little faith in the stability and future of our airline,” said Capt. Casey Murray in a statement.
The Southwest Airlines Pilot Association represents more than 10,000 pilots.
The vote will take place beginning May 1 and will be counted at the end of the month.
“We believe that May 1 provides a date that allows our union time to prepare and gives our customers time to book elsewhere, so that they can have confidence that their summer vacations, honeymoons, and family outings are assured.”
Southwest pilots have been in negotiations with management for more than three years.
Delta Air Lines offered its pilots a 34% cumulative pay increase last month over three years in a new contract after the Atlanta-based carrier's pilots voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike.
“While your Board of Directors and Executive Officers have had many strategic discussions on timing, I think it is best to consider what our customers have been through over the past several years and the past several weeks,” Murray said. “It was the lack of discussion or commitment by our leadership team to rectify these issues for our passengers and our pilots that drove us to make the decision to carry forward on this path afforded to us by the Railway Labor Act.”