More than 1,300 Southwest Airlines pilots stood on a picket line Tuesday in Dallas, sounding off about unfair working conditions and inadequate pay, according to the pilots' union.
The pilots of Southwest have been in contract negotiations with the company for more than two years with no meaningful move toward a new contract, the union said in a statement to NBC News that pilot fatigue rates have reached an all-time high. Pilots from across the commercial airline industry have been calling attention to chronic staffing shortages that have forced carriers to delay or cancel many flights.
Southwest Airlines told NBC News in a statement that it respects the rights of our Employees to express their opinions, and we do not anticipate any disruption to service as a result of this single demonstration. The carrier said for 51 years, we've maintained a legendary Southwest culture that honors our valued employees.
Two converging forces have created an overwhelming surge in travel thanks to the global easing of the pandemic restrictions and the summer getaway season. The Transportation Security Administration has handled the highest number of passenger screenings since the beginning of 2019, to the tune of more than 2.4 million daily travelers, as of June 20.
The additional traffic, plus lower numbers of pilots and flight crews, has resulted in serious headaches for travelers. Some pilots are pointing fingers at their own airlines.
Casey A. Murray, a pilot and president of the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, said earlier that pilots have been under a lot of stress for the past year, noting that frequent flight reassignments have left pilots feeling frustrated and fatigued.
At least 30% of the pilots are reassigned everyday, according to Murray. He said Southwest has about 9,600 pilots, but he wouldn't say how many more it needs to hire to address the shortage.
There have also been failures in connecting pilots to airplanes, sometimes because of weather events and staff shortages, and other times, for reasons unknown, according to Murray.
Murray said if you're going to continue to misuse us, you're going to be short of staff.
Some flight executives acknowledged the challenges facing the industry at the moment. Scott Kirby, the CEO of United Airlines, said on a quarterly earnings call in April that the pilot shortage for the industry is real. Most airlines are not going to be able to realize their capacity plans because there simply aren't enough pilots, at least for the next five-plus years, he said.
A number of airlines have recently struggled with weather and flight cancellations because of the fact that they have recently been dealing with other routine disruptions. Delta Air Lines, Spirit Airlines, Southwest Airlines and Alaska Airlines have scaled back their spring and summer travel schedules to give them more room to handle disruptions.