Lyn Montgomery, President of the Transport Workers Union of America Local 556, joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast and discussed Southwest Airline’s December 2022 operational failures, along with poor overall working conditions experienced by Southwest flight attendants.
TWU Local 556 represents over 18,000 Southwest Airlines flight attendants.
Montgomery addressed what she called a predictable and preventable holiday debacle, which caused the cancellation of at least 16,700 flights between Dec. 21 and Dec. 31. It was the airline’s seventh meltdown over the past 20 years. She explained that the technology used to schedule Soutwest flight crews failed and cancellations snowballed as crews could not get their assignments. The system, she said, had only received minor updates since the mid-1990s.
As a result of the airline’s operational failure, Southwest gave its flight attendants a gratitude pay, but Montgomery said while it was a nice gesture, it did not make up for what flight attendants had to endure.
Montgomery then spoke about the overall poor working conditions flight attendants face, including being assaulted, poor wages and flights through severe weather conditions.
Listen to the entire episode to learn more about these topics: