Southwest, mechanics clash over flight cancellations

Southwest Airlines, which canceled hundreds of flights in the past few days over maintenance issues with its planes, apologized to customers late Tuesday evening and blamed the disruption on the union representing its mechanics.

The Dallas-based carrier has been in contract discussions with the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA) for over six years. After the most recent round of negotiations, Southwest said it experienced “an unprecedented number of out-of-service aircraft in four specific maintenance locations.” The airline declared an "operational emergency,” resulting in nearly 200 flight cancellations on Tuesday, according to tracking website FlightAware.

“AMFA has a history of work disruptions, and Southwest has two pending lawsuits against the union. We will be investigating this current disruption and exploring all possible remedies,” Chief Operating Officer Mike Van de Ven said in a statement.

Over 400 Southwest flights were cancelled on Wednesday, also due to inclement weather. In total, 40 of its roughly 750 jets were out-of-service in recent days, double the standard number that are taken out of rotation for maintenence.

A union spokesman said the episode "does not bode well for the airline's" operations.

"Safety is, and always will be, our number one priority," he said in an emailed statement. "For Southwest's leadership to connect the airline’s self-declared 'operational emergency' to collective bargaining negotiations is simply an attempt to divert attention away from the airline’s safety issues."

The latest drama comes amid a Federal Aviation Administration investigation into whether Southwest misrepresented the weight of checked luggage on its flights. It also comes as the carrier continues to struggle with the fallout of a record 35-day government shutdown that led large numbers of Transportation Security Administration agents to take unscheduled leave, resulting in flight delays across the country.

While Southwest previously estimated the lapse in funding would cost it $10 million to $15 million in the first quarter of 2019, the airline said in a federal filing on Wednesday that it would result in a loss of closer to $60 million. The company also expects revenue per available seat mile -- a key indicator of profitability -- to increase as much as four percent year-over-year, down from a previoulsy forecasted maximum hike of five percent in the three-month period.

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Union representatives questioned the reasoning behind Southwest's decisin to declare an "operational emergency." No such decleration was made in the days following the death of a Wells Fargo executive on a Southwest flight from Dallas to New York City in April 2018 as a result of an engine failure, they argued.

Southwest declined to comment beyond Van de Ven's statement.