Southwest Airlines And The Pilots Union Say Vaccine Mandates Had Nothing To Do With The Massive Flight Cancellations

BuzzFeed ^ | 10 11 2021 | Salvador Hernandez

[yesthatjallen]

Conservative figures and politicians opposing vaccine and mask mandates have blamed more than 2,000 recent flight cancellations by Southwest Airlines on vaccine mandates, but both the airline and pilots union have said the massive number of flight disruptions had nothing to do with it.

That didn't stop some politicians, like former president Donald Trump, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, and Rep. Andy Biggs from Arizona, from trying to link the cancellations to federal vaccine mandates even though they offered no evidence of it.

"The weekend challenges were not a result of Southwest Employee demonstrations, as some are reporting," a spokesperson with the airline told BuzzFeed News.

False rumors online suggested the cancellations may have been linked to pilots walking off the job or calling in sick to protest mandatory vaccinations for COVID-19, which the company is requiring all employees to get by Dec. 8. The company requirement comes after President Joe Biden in September issued a mandate for COVID vaccines for federal employees, federal contractors, and companies with more than 100 employees.

But the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, which represents nearly 10,000 pilots, pushed back repeatedly against reports that pilots protesting the vaccine mandate were behind the massive number of cancellations.

SNIP

However, the senator appeared to ignore the bulk of the article, which cited Southwest Airlines blaming air traffic control issues and bad weather for many of the cancellations. The article also discussed at length personnel shortages, pilot fatigue, and disruptions that the company has faced.

The quote noted by Cruz about mandates referred to a union post on fatigue and disruptions faced by the pilots and that vaccine mandates "exacerbates the situation."

SNIP

[ALPAPilot]

The funny thing is that it if the company doesn’t want to admit it was their vaccination mandate that caused a sickout, taking legal action against the union becomes difficult.

The company is in a bit of a box.

[JPG]

How can they make such statements with a straight face??

Lots of practice.

[Fitzy_888]

STEW PETERS: VAXED PILOT DIES IN-FLIGHT, EMERGENCY LANDING REQUIRED
https://www.bitchute.com/video/MNDxlNAuxgzA/