I’ve had several readers ask why Southwest Airlines is cancelling so many more flights than other carriers this holiday, and why their operation in Denver is worse than United’s – so it’s not just weather. I initially assumed that the way Southwest routes its planes – throughout its system, rather than isolating them with back-and-forths – tends to cause cancellations across the system when there are localized disruptions.
They are having a bigger issue in Denver. There are no workers on the ramp. Southwest has declared an emergency there and it is extreme. The airline is threatening to fire employees who call out sick without a doctor's note and won't accept appointments with doctors over the phone. The memo begins with the word "alleged"
Things seem to be going well at southwest pic.twitter.com/5ChyDpAxv9
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JonNYC
The state of operational emergency that requires everyone to show up is not working. JonNYC brought to our attention a flight that was turned around on its way to Denver because the airline didn't have enough rampers.
this SW flight had to turn around and go back to Tampa as there were no rampers at DEN available for it to land there:https://t.co/P3WJl7EhCB
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Mass resignations are believed to be the cause of the staff shortage.
Someone reports: “There's a rumor that 100 plus Southwest Rampers in Denver quit”
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The airline said so.
Due to the conditions, we’ve been rotating ramp crews to limit exposing our People for an extended period. As this requires essentially double the Employees to turn an aircraft, we’ve reduced our operation at DEN until temperatures rise. We’re optimistic today’s and the future weather forecast looks more promising.
The temperature in Denver is expected to rise above freezing this morning after several days of extremely cold temperatures.
I have never seen planes turn around while en route due to lack of rampers. Southwest had the most canceled schedule on Friday with 1334 or 32 of it's schedule. Denver had the third-most canceled flights of any airport in the country with 251. Southwest has canceled more flights than any other airline in the U.S.
Due to the cold, there is a shortage of rampers, so more staff is needed to handle the same number of flights. There have been reports from within the airline that there have not been any rampers available, and one flight was turned around and flown to nowhere.
Southwest imposes extreme measures that result in crew showing up even when sick, as an in-person doctor's appointment and note are required to justify any absence Can you get a doctor's appointment on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning? Will it be possible to get an attestation that a ramper was symptom free on their first day of absence if they get sick and follow up with a doctor? Employees could be pressured to show up sick in extreme temperatures, while infecting each other, because of the uncertainty.
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In general.
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