Could pilot strikes disrupt US summer travel?

Rich Thomaselli | (TNS) TravelPulse

There is a scene in the film “The American President,” almost a throwaway scene, where a change in the president’s plans happens. Apparently, there is an airline strike in St. Louis and he is intending to fly there with the hopes of mediating.

As he is putting on his coat, he says, “You know what my economics professor once told me?”

His chief of staff then quickly quips back, “Never have an airline strike at Christmas?”

Add the busy summer travel season, especially this summer, to that list.

A strike by airline pilots could be a major thorn in the side of summer travel this year. In fact, it could disrupt it quite a bit. Both American Airlines and Southwest Airlines pilots have recently voted to authorize a strike.

“The lack of leadership and the unwillingness to address the failures of our organization have led us to this point,” Casey Murray, the president of Southwest’s union, said in a statement. “Our pilots are tired of apologizing to our passengers on behalf of a company that refuses to place its priorities on its internal and external customers.”