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Southwest 'operational emergency' spreads to Dallas due to out-of-service aircraft

Southwest's number of daily out-of-service aircraft has doubled in recent days, according to the company.

DALLAS — The maintenance staffing issues affecting Southwest Airlines has spread to Dallas, according to a memo to maintenance technicians and inspectors based here.

The memo, which was similar to one sent to Southwest maintenance staff in Phoenix last week, declared a "state of operational emergency" due to an above-average number of out-of-service aircraft undergoing maintenance.

Southwest's number of daily out-of-service aircraft has doubled in recent days, according to the company. 

The airline, on an average day, plans for as many as 20 of the company's 750 aircraft to be out of service for maintenance. The number of out-of-service aircraft on Tuesday remained below 50, according to a Southwest spokesman.

Credit: WFAA
The memo to Dallas-based Southwest technicians and inspectors declaring a state of operational emergency.

Southwest saw at least 180 cancellations system-wide Tuesday. About half of those cancellations were a result of the higher-than-normal number of out-of-service aircraft, according to an airline spokesperson. A weather pattern sweeping across the central U.S. added to the flight woes.

As of 5:15 p.m. Tuesday, 124 Southwest flights in or out of Love Field had been delayed – representing about 30 percent of the airline’s flights to and from its home base – according to flight tracking site FlightAware. Another 29 had been canceled.

For comparison, Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport had seen 588 delays (30 percent of outbound flights and 28 percent of inbound flights) as of Tuesday evening. Fifty-five flights in or out of DFW were canceled Tuesday.

The state of operational emergency means Southwest is "requiring all hands on-deck" when it comes to maintenance staffing, according to a company statement.

According to the memo sent to Dallas technicians on Tuesday and to Southwest technicians in Phoenix on Friday, employees will be required to provide a doctor's note if they call in sick. The company will also only honor time-off requests for mechanics that had already been approved and "continue to call an appropriate amount of overtime to support the operation," the memos said.

All of Southwest's mechanics belong to the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA), according to the Chicago Business Journal. In an AMFA memo posted Friday, the organization accused Southwest of "degrading safety" after the operational emergency declared in Phoenix:

"As a direct result of the Southwest-created emergency: (1) sick mechanics who have not had the opportunity to see a doctor will have to work through their illness, (2) vacations, holidays, and shift trades will be disrupted, (3) bid seniority will be dishonored, and (4) technicians will be forced to work mandatory overtime irrespective of their child care obligations or state of fatigue," AMFA wrote. Southwest expressly warns that our compliance will be obtained via threat of termination."

About 850 Southwest mechanics are based in Dallas, making up about one-third of the company's 2,400 mechanics, the Chicago Business Journal reported.

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