Over 2,000 Southwest Airlines cancellations caused untold numbers of passengers to be stranded this weekend. The boring reason for the airline's cancellation is weather. Conservatives have a more exciting reason: working-class resistance to Joe Biden's vaccine tyranny. The only way to defeat Democrats is for the weary masses to line up at dawn and sleep on the ground, making TikToks while their baggage accumulates around the conveyor belt.
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Ted Cruz is among them. He is spreading a rumor that pilots protested Biden's illegal vaccine mandate. Batya Ungar -Sargon, Newsweeks deputy opinion editor, asked: Was the cancellation of flights due to pilots refusing vaccination? And he continued, baselessly to conclude that this was a powerful form collective action by vaccine-rejecters working class.
Southwest Airlines pilots deny that theory. This is despite the fact that Southwest Airlines Pilots Association (SWAPA) a bargaining unit representing more than 9,000 pilots, filed last Friday a request asking for a Dallas federal court to block the airline's enforcement of vaccine mandates.
Cruz would likely dislike the motion if he read it. SWAPAs is defending labor rights and arguing that Southwest failed to negotiate with the union regarding the policy change. According to the motion, Southwest doesn't pay minimum wage during mandatory quarantine. Other airlines also came to the bargaining tables to negotiate covid-19 policies. They claim that the airline forced pilots to respond to a fire drill by forcing them to meet a deadline at the last minute.
SWAPA wants violent anti-maskers to be jailed. In fact, SWAPA wrote a joint letter to the Department of Justice requesting that fines and/or 20 years of imprisonment be imposed on passengers who have assaulted crew members in recent times. In-flight attacks are on the rise, with passengers upset about wearing masks grounding planes and forcing crew members to call law enforcement.
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The union tried to dispel sickout theories in a press release. It stated: SWAPA is aware that Southwest Airlines has some operational problems today, but can assure Gizmodo that Southwest employees are not involved in the disruptions.
We experienced significant flight disruptions in Florida due to bad weather and ATC issues on Friday night. We spent the weekend trying to recover from the large number of aircraft and crews that were displaced, they stated.
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In an email, the FAA stated that flight delays and cancellations occurred Friday afternoon because of severe weather and military training.
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Gizmodo was informed by Southwest Airlines that they expect operations to return to normal tomorrow. Customers should contact our Customer Relations team to discuss their particular situation.
