Posted on 10/12/2021 9:45:31 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
The CEO of Southwest Airlines is fighting back against Joe Biden, his administration and their vaccine mandates.
The CEO, Gary Kelly, spoke to George Stephanopoulos on ABC News on Tuesday when he said no one was going to be fired for not being vaccinated.
“We are not going to fire any employees over this,” he said.
He did say that there was “no evidence” that the recent flight cancellations had anything to do with the vaccine mandates.
“There’s just no evidence of that,” he said. “Our people are working very hard, they’re doing a great job, I’m very proud of them.”
“This is a government mandate, it’s a presidential order, and we’re doing our best to comply with that according to the deadlines that have been set,” the CEO said, but he did say that the mandate was “very controversial.”
“I’ve never been in favor of corporations imposing that kind of a mandate, I’m not in favor of that, never have been,” he said on CNBC. “But the executive order from President Biden mandates that all federal employees and then all federal contractors, which covers all major airlines, have to have a vaccine mandate in place by December 8. So we’re working through that.”
“I think people, again, that understand how airlines work, when you get behind, it just takes several days to catch up,” he said. “The fact that we’re basically caught up yesterday and today supports the assertion that we’re making here. We were significantly behind on Friday, and it just takes several days to catch up.”
But this is a new stance for Kelly as last week he said that his employees would have to be vaccinated, MSN reported.
“Southwest Airlines is a federal contractor and we have no viable choice but to comply with the U.S. government mandate for employees to be vaccinated, and — like other airlines — we’re taking steps to comply,” he said.
The airline had to cancel more than 1,000 flights this weekend, but the CEO said it did not have to do with the vaccine mandate or any type of protest.
“WAPA is aware of operational difficulties affecting Southwest Airlines today due to a number of issues, but we can say with confidence that our Pilots are not participating in any official or unofficial job actions,” the company said.
“Our Pilots will continue to overcome SWA management’s poor planning, as well as any external operational challenges, and remain the most productive Pilots in the world. They will continue to be focused on their highest priority — safety. SWAPA Pilots are true professionals and will always maintain the highest level of responsibility to their crews, their passengers, and our airline,” he said.
But, as Bloomberg News reported , Southwest pilots have asked the courts to block the vaccine mandates.
The Southwest Airlines Pilots Association’s filing Friday also asked for an immediate hearing on the request before a federal court in Dallas, claiming the carrier has continued to take unilateral actions that violate terms of the Railway Labor Act, which governs airline-union relations. Those steps include the Covid-19 vaccination requirement. “The new vaccine mandate unlawfully imposes new conditions of employment and the new policy threatens termination of any pilot not fully vaccinated by December 8, 2021,” the legal filing said. “Southwest Airlines’ additional new and unilateral modification of the parties’ collective bargaining agreement is in clear violation of the RLA.”
Southwest set the deadline on Oct. 4 under a federal vaccination mandate for employees of companies holding contracts with the U.S. government. Workers can seek medical or religious exemptions. The union represents 9,000 Southwest pilots.
“The airline disagrees with SWAPA’s claims that any Covid-related changes over the past several months require negotiation,” Southwest said in an emailed statement. The carrier is committed to working with its unions “as we continue navigating the challenges presented by the ongoing pandemic.”
SWA Mgt. is on the hotseat.
Do they go Deplorable or do they go ‘Rat/BiXiden.
SWA’s future is on the hook.
“No evidence” does not mean it didn’t happen.
You’d think they would quit with the lying.
Biden will have the FBI investigate Kelly. Maybe some nice tax/accounting audits and double up on OSHA inspections will have some influence on him.
He wants to follow Bidens order.
Let’s see if he follows gov abbots order
If a pilot is unvaxxed, he will get offered a job working the phones or on the ramp. At drastically lower pay.
None of them will take it.
Effectively they are fired
You can’t have it both ways - comply with the fascist vaccine mandate and not fire employees that refuse the vaccine. This guy is lying, obviously talking out of both sides of his mouth trying to placate everyone. Pick a side, the game is about to begin.
Seems like Kelly is doing the ole rapid backpeddling.
If he enforces the mandate, his airline gets shut down. If the airline gets shut down, guess who else will also be looking for a new job.
Decisions. Decisions.
Good luck getting the Unions to accept that
How about Joe Biden? Fire his azz.
Chains all over the highway from the sudden back peddling.
SWA got the message.
“Employees make the company at SWA”
Maybe....just maybe.....hope yet remains.
Blink.
A CEO that’s aware of the Woke2Broke rule.
He will not cave to the pilots. He won’t follow orders from the Texas Governor for all companies in Texas to stop this nonsense but he will cave to this order if it means SW goes tge way all things go after Brandon touches them
Ruin.
But tge pilots are a different breed. They live focusing on no kidding health and fitness
They will not take any chances at having their plane end up like a deceased insect over a blood clot
Yep. The backfire continues.
Stage Set Joe is going down.
This will be fun to watch. SWA blinked, now what?
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