As Southwest Airlines continues to clean up the mess left behind by its Christmas travel fiasco, the carrier faces a new challenge – a potential pilots' strike.
The Southwest Airlines pilots' union called for a strike vote on Wednesday.
"This isn't about pilots as much as it's about the soul of Southwest Airlines," said Captain Casey Murray, president of the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association (SWAPA). "It's about providing what our mandate is, which is safe and reliable transportation, and reliability is not there today, and our customers deserve better. Our employees deserve better."
More than 10,000 pilots represented by the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association will begin voting on May 1 whether to authorize a strike.
The union has been in negotiations with the airline for a new contract for more than three years and feels like things have stalled.