A Southwest Airlines Co. plane takes off as representatives and pilots from the Southwest Airlines Pilots’ Association (SWAPA) show outside Chicago Midway International Airport (MDW) in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., on Wednesday, May 18, 2016.
Daniel Acker / Bloomberg / Getty Images
Southwest Airlines pilots’ union said Thursday it sought to be released from federal mediation for a recent labor contract, laying the groundwork for a possible strike as talks with the carrier have not yet yielded an agreement.
The airline and union, the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, have been in contract talks for greater than three years and negotiations have been tense. The Dallas-based carrier’s pilots voted to authorize the union to call a possible strike last month, a poll that the union called on the heels of a vacation meltdown at the top of last 12 months.
“Regrettably, I have to inform you that SWAPA and Southwest have been unable to meaningfully resolve quite a few vital, outstanding issues, and that further mediation will likely not lead to any additional agreements between the parties,” Jody R. Reven, the negotiating committee’s chairman, wrote to the National Mediation Board on Thursday, in response to a letter seen by CNBC.
The union said Southwest has refused to interact “in substantive discussions or offer ratifiable proposals” on issues value more highly pay, work rules, quality-of-life improvements and fatigue mitigation, in response to a letter the union sent to the National Mediation Board.
Southwest’s vice chairman, labor relations, Adam Carlisle, said in an announcement that the corporate disagrees with the have to be released from mediation.
“We have continued meeting commonly with SWAPA and, actually, made an industry-leading compensation proposal and scheduling adjustments to deal with workplace quality-of-life issues for our Pilots,” he said. “We feel confident that mediation will proceed driving us even closer to a final agreement that may profit each our Pilots and Southwest Airlines.”
Pilot strikes within the U.S. are extremely rare, and the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association’s request doesn’t mean that one is imminent due to procedures in U.S. labor law. The last major U.S. passenger airline strike within the country was at Spirit Airlines in 2010.
There are several so-called cooling off periods should the National Mediation Board declare an impasse between Southwest and its pilots’ union. Those last 30 days apiece, giving time for a possible agreement.
