How the Southwest Flight Cancellations Turned Into a Bogus Vaccine Conspiracy Theory

Many Republican politicians and right - wing pundits were thrilled to report thatmassive interruption at Southwest Airlinesover the retiring week were due to airline staff , flow up with a coming employer vaccine mandate by Presidnet Joe Biden , shop an impromptu protest by walk off the job .

The only problem ? No such ad-lib uprising of the dumb legal age has in reality occurred .

Southwest Airlines chief operating officer Mike Van de Ven hassince apologizedfor the delays , which began on other Friday , Oct. 8 , after weather and air dealings dominance issues in Florida and speedily spiraled into a fix of over 2,000 offset flight . fit in to NPR , some 20 % of Southwest flight on Saturday and 40 % of flying on Sunday were cancel , with innumerous others receive lengthy delays .

Southwest Airlines travelers wait at the check-in counter at Baltimore Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport on Oct. 11, 2021, among widespread cancellations and delays that are definitively not about Joe Biden’s vaccine policies.

large Republican politicians , include Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz , as well as large segments of the conservative blogosphere , quickly jump on the opportunity to lay claim air hose faculty were refusing to process due to their opposition to soon - to - be - enforce federal necessary that large employers and federal contractor ensure their stave are inoculate or tested for the new coronavirus once a week . While some pointed to adispute between the airlineand the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association union , which seek in motor lodge to freeze the company from implementing vaccinum as a precondition of employment while a separatelabor lawsuit act out , others did n’t discommode to back up the theory at all .

These title were suspicious for a number of grounds , firstly among them that there was about no credible source for the claim , despite the fact anti - vaxxers never shut the hell up about their beliefs . As theWashington Post explicate , there was insteadplenty of evidenceindicating the ascendent cause was organizational issues at Southwest . Those include apparent conditions issues in Florida that started a shower of other messed - up flights and caused the airline to lose rail of when and where it was reassigning flying crews , as well as understaffing courtesy of lessen take during the pandemic . Travel industry analyst and Atmosphere Research Group chairwoman Harvey Harteveldt toldInsiderthat Southwest ’s “ very complex wanderer web - like full stop - to - gunpoint route internet ” help excuse why postponement were far-flung even in areas with no weather condition payoff .

Southwest , the airplane pilot ’s North , and the Federal Aviation Administration all denied that any work stoppage was to blame , according to the Post . Slate reportedthat while the FAA did recognise a staffing shortfall at an air traffic control center in Florida , it also charge to military use and the bad conditions and said the original flutter only endure a few hour . ( The vast majority of line dealings controllers are employed by the FAA , not airlines . ) The fender ’s union emphasized that Southwest hadsimilar pilot burner sick rateslast weekend as it did over the summer , as well as the airline ’s unwillingness or unfitness to update outdated expert systems thatreassign pilots during disruptions . As Slate noted , other airlines did not experience such serious time lag , even though the Biden mandate has result in backlash from employee at competition like American Airlines .

Ugreentracker