Southwest Pilots Sue Carrier To Stop Flying Of Boeing's Max

Southwest Airlines Co. pilots' union asked a federal court to block the carrier from flying Boeing Co.'s newest 737 until the plane is negotiated into a new contract for the 8,300 aviators.

The union also wants the court to order Southwest to stop "delaying and frustrating bargaining" and fulfill its legal duty to make every effort to reach a contract if the airline wants to fly the 737 Max when it's delivered next year. The Southwest Airlines Pilots Association filed the lawsuit in the federal court in Dallas on Monday.

The new Max has become the focal point of tensions between Southwest and the union, which have been in talks on a new contract for more than four years. Frustrated pilots, who have begun picketing at airports, want higher pay rates and better retirement contributions. The carrier is seeking to offset rising costs with guarantees of increased productivity.

Southwest is attempting to force the union "to negotiate the Max dispute with an illegal gun to the head of SWAPA," according to the filing. "Southwest Airlines, in short, is presently engaging in a high stakes and illegal game of 'chicken."'

Southwest, which is set to be the launch customer for the Max, maintains the new plane is just like others in the existing contract except for an updated engine, and doesn't have to be specifically named. Listing aircraft that can be flown in a pilot contract and specifying rates of pay and related items is a common practice in the industry.

The Max 8 version of the plane is on track to enter the market in the first half of 2017, Ray Conner, CEO of Boeing's commercial airplane unit, said on May 11. Southwest has said it expects the Max to arrive in the third quarter of next year, while the pilots' lawsuit set the date in March. The legal challenge also includes the Max 7 variant, which Southwest won't get until 2019.

The lawsuit followed the union's request last week that Southwest guarantee it won't operate the plane before it's named in an approved contract. Doing so would violate a provision of the Railway Labor Act that requires both sides to maintain the status quo during talks, the lawsuit said. The act governs negotiations involving airlines and organized labor, setting standards under which a strike can occur.

Southwest's "intent and expectation" is that a new agreement will be in place by the time the Max enters service next year, Randy Babbitt, senior vice president for labor relations, said in a May 13 response to the union. The airline is prepared to discuss the issue during negotiations, he said.

The carrier historically has negotiated specific aircraft into contracts, the pilots said, and didn't fly the Boeing 737-800 until it was listed in a side letter to the existing labor accord in 2011. Provisions for operating the Max were included in an earlier agreement rejected by pilots in November.

USA: Labor Talks With Southwest Airlines

Southwest Airlines Co.will be the first carrier to receive Boeing Co.’s new Max version of its best- selling 737 aircraft. Those planes may sit idle unless a new contract with the carrier’s 8,000 pilots is reached.

Their union says the Max isn’t listed in the current labor agreement as an aircraft they can fly, a common practice in the industry. Southwest says the new plane is just like others in the existing contract except for an updated engine, and doesn’t have to be specifically named.

The disagreement is the latest between the airline and the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, whose members rejected a proposed accord in November. The two sides start a fresh round of meetings on March 22, and the upcoming arrival of the Max may add urgency to the talks. Southwest expects to receive its first plane in the third quarter of 2017, while Boeing says the delivery may come sooner.

“It’s a freight train coming down the track,” Casey Murray, the head of the union’s negotiating committee, said in an interview. “We can see the light and they can, too.”

New Negotiators

The pilots will enter the talks with a new president and negotiating committee. The union didn’t detail terms of the rejected contract, which had been negotiated over three years, beyond saying it would have put pilots’ pay in line with other major airlines and included improvements to work rules and company retirement contributions.

The airline is seeking to offset rising costs with guarantees of increased productivity in exchange for higher pay. The existing contract dating back to 2012 remains in effect until a new one is agreed upon and approved by the union.

Southwest is bringing in the new aircraft to trim the costs of flying older, less-efficient 737 models. The airline wants to have all 737-300s and -500s out of its fleet by mid-2018, three years earlier than it originally planned. Development of the Max has been smooth, and the plane may complete flight-testing by the end of the year, Boeing pilots said after the maiden voyage last month.

“We are ahead of schedule,” Greg Smith, Boeing’s chief financial officer said during a Feb. 3 presentation. “I would say it’s a little early to raise the victory flag at this point on early deliveries, but we are focused on that. And if we can do it, and our customers can accommodate it, we will.”

Same Type

Southwest considers the Max the same aircraft type as the 737-800 that is covered by a 2010 side accord to the current union contract, said Bob Hughes, a spokesman for the Dallas- based carrier.

“Southwest Airlines has consistently maintained that the Max is covered by the current agreement,” the carrier said in an emailed statement. “If there is a misunderstanding over this issue, then clearly it will need to be sorted out.”

The union disputes that, saying the pilots’ agreement requires that each aircraft flown by Southwest be listed separately by type and model.

“They cannot fly the Max without a new contract,” said Jon Weaks, the union’s president.

Pilot Training

The Federal Aviation Administration also hasn’t announced whether pilots qualified on Boeing’s 737-700 and -800 models will automatically be allowed to fly the Max or must undergo training on the new version.

Most airlines pay pilots more as the size of the aircraft increases, which is one reason the industry practice is to list each type and model individually. Southwest pilots, however, earn the same pay regardless of the plane flown.

That’s why the Max may turn out to be less important in talks than other issues, said Bob Mann, president of R.W. Mann & Co., an aviation consultant who has worked with both airlines and unions.

“I’m sure the pilots want a deal sooner than 18 months from now,” he said. “It will come down to how serious is that issue against other priorities. There are much bigger fish to fry in the talks.”