Southwest Workers Say They Suffered Frostbite During 16-Hour Shifts

As offended as passengers have been throughout this previous week of delayed and canceled flights, misplaced baggage, and being stranded far-off from family and friends throughout Christmas, that was apparently nothing in comparison with what Southwest Airline floor crew employees skilled, in line with a union letter claiming some employees developed frostbite throughout 16-hour shifts the place they had been uncovered to sub-zero temperatures for prolonged durations.

The Transport Workers Union of America Local 555 claims to signify 17,000 Southwest Airlines floor crew employees. On Wednesday, TWU Local 555 President Randy Barnes stated in a release {that a} good chunk of their members had been working 16- to 18-hour shifts this vacation season. Some had been getting sick, and he stated some skilled frostbite throughout the extremely chilly temperatures seen this previous week.

“People need to be able to cycle in and out of the cold,” Barnes wrote. “The airline needs to do more to protect its ground crews.”

A leaked e-mail Southwest despatched to employees in Denver, Colorado exhibits the corporate declared an inner “State of Operational Emergency” beginning Dec. 21. The memo exhibits that ramp employees had been required to work extra time, and in the event that they had been sick, they had been additionally required to offer a health care provider’s word—and never from any physician seen by way of telemedicine. The memo was first reported by Business Insider Wednesday, which claimed the doc was confirmed by the corporate.

Colorado then suffered -15 F common temperatures on Dec. 22, among the lowest recorded temperatures the state has ever skilled. That is all earlier than wind chill, which might be the deciding consider whether or not an individual suffers frostbite.

In the discharge, Barnes additional criticized the Dallas, Texas-based airline for scheduling so many flights although its house owners understood the climate situations. He stated Southwest must area flights out extra throughout excessive climate, not simply excessive chilly however excessive warmth.

Gizmodo reached out to the union to raised perceive what the severity of illness and frostbite was for Southwest floor crews, however we didn’t instantly hear again. We additionally reached out to Southwest for touch upon its insurance policies for floor crew throughout inclement climate, however the firm declined to remark. Southwest advised Insider that the corporate can contractually implement these emergency procedures for ramp employees.

Depending on publicity, temperature, and wind chill, it may well take a really brief time to develop frostbite. The National Weather Service features a chart on its web page exhibiting the temperature and wind velocity required to lead to frostbite in half-hour, 10 minutes, or simply 5 minutes. The company famous a person in a wind chill of -20 F would take half-hour to develop frostbite. Of course, milder types of frostbite, generally referred to as “frostnip,” can be treated with home care, although after all it’s essential to see a health care provider to gauge the severity and obtain correct therapy.

Southwest has canceled 1000’s of flights for the reason that winter storm began mucking up individuals’s vacation journey plans. The airline nixed 2,400 flights for Tuesday and one other 4,800 for Wednesday and going into Thursday. Southwest has done away with near 16,000 flights since Dec. 22. An govt of Southwest Airlines’ pilot affiliation blamed Southwest’s decaying scheduling software program for a lot of the journey chaos. The airline was additionally coping with a scarcity of employees.

Instead of answering our questions, the corporate pointed to a video with Southwest CEO Bob Jordan launched Tuesday. Jordan stated:

“The operation of the airline counts on all the pieces, especially aircraft and crews remaining in motion to where they’re planned to go. With our large fleet of airplanes and flight crews out of position in dozens of locations. And after days of trying to operate as much of our full schedule across the busy holiday weekend, we reached a decision point to significantly reduce our flying to catch up.”

As Barnes talked about in his launch, Southwest was initially envisioned by co-founder Herb Kelleher as a point-to-point airline that averted the excesses of different main plane-based companies throughout the nation. Since Kelleher left his place as CEO and handed in 2019, Southwest has began to extra resemble its pricier rivals. Still, the corporate lags behind in some ways, as evidenced by the way it’s handled disaster after disaster, like back in 2014 when the corporate canceled 1000’s of flights and misplaced lots of of items of bags resulting from harsh winter climate. Last yr, the corporate canceled more than 2,000 flights throughout one other rash of dangerous climate, and equally blamed staffing shortages.

This failure to function throughout the ongoing disaster now has the federal authorities respiratory down Southwest’s neck. On Tuesday, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg made particular point out of Southwest Airlines to NBC Nightly News, saying that whereas different airways’ companies have improved, “they have moved in the other direction.” He stated that Southwest has “crossed the line from what is an uncontrollable weather situation to something that is the airline’s direct responsibility.”

Buttigieg added “they need to take care of their passengers and they need to take care of their employees.” The New York Times additionally reported that Indiana Sen. Maria Cantwell stated in an announcement that the Senate Commerce Committee would examine Southwest.

This latest winter storm swept east throughout North America and hit the east coast on Friday, the place it has buried areas like Buffalo, New York underneath a number of ft of snow, delaying rescue employees and in any other case halting site visitors underneath whiteout situations. As of Tuesday, federal officers stated the storm has claimed not less than 63 lives, although after all that quantity will doubtless rise within the coming days.