Southwest Airlines And The Pilots Union Say Vaccine Mandates Had Nothing To Do With The Massive Flight Cancelations

Conservative figures and politicians opposing vaccine and mask mandates have blamed more than 2,000 recent flight cancelations by Southwest Airlines on vaccine mandates, but both the airline and pilots' union have said the massive number of flight disruptions had nothing to do with it.

That didn't stop some politicians, like former president Donald Trump, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, and Rep. Andy Biggs from Arizona, from trying to link the cancelations to federal vaccine mandates even though they offered no evidence of it.

"The weekend challenges were not a result of Southwest Employee demonstrations, as some are reporting," a spokesperson with the airline told BuzzFeed News.

False rumors online suggested the cancelations may have been linked to pilots walking off the job or calling in sick to protest mandatory vaccinations for COVID-19, which the company is requiring all employees to get by Dec. 8. The company mandate comes after President Joe Biden in September issued a mandate for COVID vaccines for federal employees, federal contractors, and companies with more than 100 employees.

But the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, which represents nearly 10,000 pilots, pushed back repeatedly against reports that pilots protesting the vaccine mandate were behind the massive number of cancelations.

"I can say with certainty that there are no work slowdowns or sickouts either related to the recent mandatory vaccine mandate or otherwise," the union said in a statement Sunday. "SWAPA has not authorized, and will not condone, any job action."