Yesterday The Epoch Times reported the following:
Southwest Airlines has canceled at least 1,000 Sunday flights as of 12 p.m. ET, according to flight tracker FlightAware, coming after numerous cancelations were reported Saturday.
“We experienced significant impact in the Florida airports [Friday] evening after an FAA-imposed air traffic management program was implemented due to weather and resulted in a large number of cancellations,” said Alan Kasher, who oversees Southwest’s flight operations, in a statement obtained by several news outlets on Saturday.
Notice that they are blaming the weather for the cancellations. Because they are blaming the weather for the cancellations, the airline does not have to give refunds or pay for layover expenses for the people who are stranded by the flight cancellations.
The article continues:
Southwest declined to comment on whether cancelations were due to staffing shortages related to the firm’s recently announced COVID-19 vaccine mandate for employees. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which oversees air traffic in the United States, also didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Axios reported the following:
“Dallas-based Southwest Airlines canceled more than 1,000 flights over the weekend, leaving passengers stranded across the country. The company denied the cancellations were caused by a staff ‘sick out’ in response to a new vaccine mandate.”
Red State reported:
“Further, while the details here are still murky about who is specifically to blame (aside from vaccine mandates in general), what is clear is that people are furious with Southwest Airlines. By blaming non-existent weather problems, they were able to avoid giving refunds or paying for layover expenses for those left stranded, many sitting on planes for hours.”
Red State also noted:
“That decision to not just be honest with its customers about the cause of the cancellations has hampered the reputation of what was once seen as the ‘different’ airline. Yet, they aren’t operating any differently than their typically more loathed counterparts in the industry. This was all completely avoidable by using some common sense.”
The article at The Epoch Times reports:
“Southwest Airlines must join our industry peers in complying with the federal government’s COVID-19 vaccination directive,” Southwest CEO Gary Kelly announced on Oct. 4, explaining that the company works as a federal contractor and needs to comply with President Joe Biden’s September vaccine mandate for federal employees and contractors. That prompted a lawsuit from Southwest’s pilot union, the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, which is seeking a court injunction against the mandate.
On its website Saturday, the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association blamed the cancelations on “a number of issues, but we can say with confidence that our Pilots are not participating in any official or unofficial job actions,” in an apparent reference to speculations about employees calling in sick.
“Our Pilots will continue to overcome [Southwest Airlines] management’s poor planning, as well as any external operational challenges, and remain the most productive Pilots in the world,” the statement continued. “They will continue to be focused on their highest priority—safety.”
We need some of our major corporations to tell the federal government to go pound sand. We need corporations and individuals to begin to stand up for our freedom. We lost a lot of freedom during the coronavirus. It is time to reclaim that freedom.