Oh, I'm sure.the media would cover it from the angle of covid injection strikes if that's the actual cause. So, which airline mandated injections again?

http://www.tathasta.com/202...ls-at-least.html?m=1
Monday, 11 October 2021
Southwest Airlines Cancels At Least 1,800 Flights Over Weekend, Blames Weather, Air Traffic Control
Passengers deplane from a Southwest Airlines flight from Las Vegas at Hollywood Burbank Airport in Burbank, California, October 10, 2021. - Southwest Airlines canceled hundreds of flights over the weekend, blaming the cancellations on poor weather and air traffic control issues.

Southwest Airlines canceled nearly two thousand flights over the weekend, grounding thousands of travelers and would-be passengers over what it referred to as air traffic control and weather problems affecting its service.

According to FlightAware, a flight-tracking service, Southwest Airlines canceled just over 800 flights on Saturday and delayed more than one-third of its service. On Sunday, the airliner canceled 1,055 flights — or 28% of the day’s Southwest flights.

“[Air traffic control] issues and disruptive weather have resulted in a high volume of cancellations throughout the weekend while we work to recover our operation. We appreciate your patience as we accommodate affected Customers, and Customer Service wait times are longer than usual,” Southwest Airlines said in a statement on Twitter. Some have speculated that many flights were canceled due to a strike among Southwest pilots. The Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, which on Friday asked the courts to temporarily stop a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for members, alleging a violation of labor law, has denied the theory is behind the cancellations.

“[The Southwest Airlines Pilots Association] is aware of operational difficulties affecting Southwest Airlines today due to a number of issues, but we can say with confidence that our Pilots are not participating in any official or unofficial job actions,” said the Southwest Airlines pilot’s union. “Our Pilots will continue to overcome SWA management’s poor planning, as well as any external operational challenges, and remain the most productive Pilots in the world. They will continue to be focused on their highest priority — safety. SWAPA Pilots are true professionals and will always maintain the highest level of responsibility to their crews, their passengers, and our airline.”

In a statement Sunday, the Federal Aviation Administration said that no shortage of air traffic control employees had been reported since Friday, and suggested “some airlines” were currently having problems because crews and aircraft were not where they needed to be.
None of the three other major airlines in the United States came close to the number of Southwest canceled flights, although American Airlines also canceled a sizable number of its flights — 149 or the equivalent of 5% of Sunday’s service as of Sunday evening. United Airlines canceled 9 flights on Sunday, and Delta Airlines canceled only three flights as of the same time.


Delta Airlines is the only one of the four major airline carriers that have not enacted a vaccine mandate among pilots, despite the federal push for large employers to do so.

[This message has been edited by sourmash (edited 10-11-2021).]

I am seeing almost no major weather activity at all in the United States, except perhaps a cold front that's going up through Nevada and Idaho. They just cancelled hundreds more flights, so either I'm just not seeing it, or the simplest answer is likely the real answer... pilots are refusing COVID jabs.

quote Delta Airlines is the only one of the four major airline carriers that have not enacted a vaccine mandate among pilots, despite the federal push for large employers to do so.

This is the key, and while I don't know why Southwest is having more cancellations than other carriers, I do know that the "federal push" means that, with regard to implementing a vaccine mandate, they're damned if they do and damned if they don't. This is because there is an Executive order mandating that all federal employees be vaccinated

Executive Order requiring vaccines for federal employees

This Order includes contractors to the federal government - any with more than 100 employees. I know this because my tiny (<20 employees) is watching to see if it gets extended to include ALL federal contractors, as we are one. Southwest has federal contracts for carrying mail and for emergency transport for the government. So they get to choose whether to issue a mandate for their employees or lose the contracts. If the SWAPA (or other unions, like ground support or maintenance personnel) really isn't taking any official or unofficial action against it - they say they aren't - then I don't know why Southwest is harder hit than other carriers, except that United claims to have 97% vaccinated workforce. But like I said, they're damned if the do, damned if they don't, and time's running out for them to comply.

Southwest Airlines is headquartered in Dallas, TX. The Governor of Texas just signed an executive order making it illegal to mandate a covid vaccine in Texas by anyone. We shall see.

quote Originally posted by Hudini: Southwest Airlines is headquartered in Dallas, TX. The Governor of Texas just signed an executive order making it illegal to mandate a covid vaccine in Texas by anyone. We shall see.

I wonder how many businesses will say they want to leave because they can't force vaccination on their staff? I doubt many... but I'm sure a few CEOs will talk about it on Twitter.