Southwest denies allegations that ramp agents in Denver walked off the job, leading to cancellations

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Southwest Airlines says rumors that up to 150 ramp agents in Denver walked off the job in the past few days after an internal management memo informed employees they would be asked to work mandatory overtime or face the threat of dismissal are unfounded.

Operations in Denver were strained in the wake of winter storm Elliot, and ramp agents worked outdoors in hazardous conditions and sub-zero temperatures. A Southwest Airlines spokesperson said the decision to “rotate” the ramp crew more often was behind some of the long flight delays and cancellations.

Southwest Airlines has been forced to cancel hundreds of flights through its system due to winter conditions sweeping the United States, although the airline is under so much pressure it cannot say exactly how many flights have been deleted in the last few days.

As cancellations began to pile up, there were rumors of a massive walkout by Southwest ramp agents due to working conditions. The rumors were accompanied by an internal memo that allegedly threatened the firing of employees who refused mandatory overtime.

The memo also warned of a “high number of absences” that had forced the airline to declare an “operational state of emergency” in Denver.

Ramp officers have been told that employees ‘alleging illness’ should provide a doctor’s note and that failure to do so will be ‘considered insubordination and abuse of sick leave, which will result in your dismissal “.

Taking to Twitter, John M. Erickson described Southwest as “the worst airline ever” after being stranded in Denver. “No gate agents, no flights, long lines, literally canceled everything and left people stranded. Shameful,” Erickson wrote.

On Thursday, a Southwest Airlines bound for Denver was reportedly even forced to return to Tampa due to a lack of ramp agents at the Colorado airport. Southwest Flight 2703 took off from Tampa a few minutes late and was flying over Oklahoma when it suddenly turned around and landed where it had started.

The same flight landed in Denver on Friday without incident.

A spokesperson for the carrier confirmed Saturday morning that rumors of a ramp agent walkout were unfounded.

“Due to the conditions, we have rotated ramp crews to limit our people’s exposure for an extended period of time,” an emailed statement from the airline explained.

“As it essentially requires double the number of employees to run an aircraft, we have reduced our operations at DEN until temperatures rise. We were optimistic today and future weather forecasts look more promising.

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Mateusz Maszczynski

Mateusz Maszczynski honed his skills as an international flight attendant at the Middle East’s most important airline and flew throughout the COVID-19 pandemic for a well-known European airline. Matt is passionate about the aviation industry and has become an expert in passenger experience and human-centered stories. Always on the cutting edge, Matt’s knowledge, analysis and news coverage are often used by some of the biggest names in journalism.

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