Comments on: Where’s the LUV?

By: Valerie

Valerie — Mon, 06 Feb 2023 19:29:20 +0000

Lots of good explanations on here for the labor shortage. I’d also add that a number of people (often women) stepped back from the workforce during COVID to take care of their kids who were learning at home. Several of them didn’t return to the workplace after the pandemic.

Finally, the pandemic hastened the retirement of the very large baby boomer generation. With airlines offering early retirement packages, or furloughs, many of those workers did not return. This was true not just in airlines, but in many fields.

By: beigna24

beigna24 — Sun, 29 Jan 2023 00:53:24 +0000

Shout-out to Greg: “Serious studies have found that the labor force shrank by about 500,000 workers who died because of Covid.”

Dead people can’t work! It seems people understand that low wages won’t cut it and better pay is mandatory. Yet we fail to understand that we lost so many lives in the last 3 years. Long Covid’s impacts remain to be fully understood, as it’s just coming into focus that there are folks who will be impacted long term, and unable to rejoin the workforce like before. Immigration policy over the last 10 years has also created a real gap in available workers. The world of work has changed significantly over the last 3 years and we are all trying to figure it out.

By: PATRICK

PATRICK — Wed, 25 Jan 2023 15:42:27 +0000

I think companies, air-carriers included- do not want to hire more staff. They want the most return with the least input as they want to recover quickly what they lost in Covid-times.That approach is not unexpected in business today. Winter weather problems have always been a problem in Denver and SLC too and I have 40 years experience there. They should have been more attentive to the history of dodgy airports.
Southwest have far too much paint on their planes.The extra weight would be the equivalent of 2 or 3 [maybe 4] additional passengers.They are throwing money away.

By: Joseph Grossman

Joseph Grossman — Tue, 24 Jan 2023 16:47:03 +0000

I think the problem in attracting workers is that companies are just not willing to pay a living wage. If they would pay a living wage, with decent health insurance, the worker shortage would disappear.
Airlines can’t continue to have the minimum possible staffing levels and then act surprised when something goes wrong.

By: Greg

Greg — Tue, 24 Jan 2023 13:44:53 +0000

I’ve worked ramp and gates for two airlines. Terrible jobs getting extremely low pay. Six months probation where if you are late for a total of two seconds you’re fired. Working mandatory overtime…all holidays. Sure, you get to fly standby for free…IF you can get on a flight and sleep in your rental car at your destination since you make 20k a year. Union fees, uniform fees etc…. Why would ANYONE do it? (Then again people work at airport fast food restaurants for even less pay, horrid commute and no flight benefits so….could be worse.)

By: Kevin

Kevin — Tue, 24 Jan 2023 04:46:36 +0000

As far as a new livery goes, I wouldn’t mind seeing something that better evokes a Southwest historical color scheme — russets, sunset colors, golden yellows, deep reds, sand, adobe buff, even desert pine green — I never think that the blue belongs in the current scheme. But I worry that any redesign will likely be worse than the current scheme, if history is any guide.

By: Michael Kennedy

Michael Kennedy — Mon, 23 Jan 2023 19:31:14 +0000

If only Southwest had pilot-less airplanes they wouldn’t have had to worry about crew swaps . . .

By: Andrew

Andrew — Mon, 23 Jan 2023 15:49:20 +0000

If SWA were to fold, does that mean Boeing will finally stop with the 737 and finally build the next-gen 757 or 767!

A man can dream… 🙂

By: Ted L

Ted L — Mon, 16 Jan 2023 03:44:00 +0000

I am laughing Patrick to the opportunity to take a whack at the livery. Definitely agree about the heart on the tail though.

By: Greg

Greg — Sun, 15 Jan 2023 19:38:10 +0000

It’s no mystery.
Serious studies have found that the labor force shrank by about 500,000 workers who died because of Covid. That’s collecting comments from Jerome Powell, Chair of the Fed. https://www.axios.com/2022/12/16/the-missing-workers-who-are-never-coming-back
That figure tracks with overall Covid deaths and labor participation rates. Per the same article, early retirements because of Covid cost another two million workers, and tightened immigration also had an effect. Long Covid probably hurts some, too.
https://www.businessinsider.com/covid-illness-made-labor-force-shrink-reason-for-labor-shortage-2022-9?op=1