Pilots’ union seeks ouster of Southwest CEO after IT outage

DALLAS — Two major unions at Southwest Airlines are demanding that the carrier replace CEO Gary Kelly because of the technology outage that caused the airline to cancel or delay thousands of flights in July. The unions representing pilots and mechanics said Monday that Southwest is spending too much on buying back shares and not enough on updating its technology. The leader of the mechanics’ union said the outage was “the final straw” on top of unsettled contract negotiations and other disappointments. In a letter Monday, Jon Weaks, president of the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, said change is needed to make the company “more stable, sustainable and profitable.” Louie Key, national director of the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association, said management has dragged out contract negotiations and made stopgap fixes to operating systems rather than investing in upgrades.