Southwest Airlines on Tuesday tutored more jets leading to higher numbers of canceled flights than its peers as the carrier extended an “operational crisis” to its hub in Dallas, telling scheduled mechanics they have to show up for work or risk termination.
Southwest had canceled 181 deserts on Tuesday, about 4 percent of its operation, according to the FlightAware tracking site. Its Dallas rival, American Airlines, in correspondence, had canceled 12 flights, less than 1 percent of its daily operation of more than 6,000 flights.
Southwest judged some of the cancellations were due to poor weather. But the airline noted that the number of Boeing 737s it has taken out of rite for maintenance was more than double the usual 20 out of about 750 planes that the airline expects to be eradicated for such issues each day. There has been “no common theme” among the problems with the aircraft, it said.
Southwest final week told its mechanics at bases including Las Vegas, Houston and Phoenix that because of the emergency they longing have to show up for work. It warned they would risk termination if they didn’t follow company manners, such as bringing a doctor’s note upon return to work after calling in sick. That “operational danger” was extended to Dallas on Tuesday. The airline has been in contract talks with mechanics since 2012.
“Due to the emergency, we will command employees alleging illness to provide a doctor’s note, on their first day back, indicating when the doctor was make sured and confirming that the employee was unable to work on the dates he claimed illness,” Southwest maintenance director Lonnie Warren rumoured in Tuesday’s memo.