There's a little less love in the air at Southwest Airlines Co. these days.
The king of low-fare airlines has perhaps the best labor relations in the industry. Employees call the chairman by his first name. They pride themselves on the cheerful, fun-loving esprit de corps highlighted on the unscripted cable-television show "Airline," filmed at Los Angeles International Airport and Chicago's Midway Airport.
But these days, Southwest's 7,300 flight attendants and their union are increasingly unhappy with contract talks that are bogged down, mainly over wages. Workers and management remain deadlocked despite two years of bargaining and a federal mediator's help.
The flight attendants have held rallies to publicize their frustration, arguing that Southwest's latest offer would leave their wages 20% to 30% below the industry average. There has even been talk of a possible strike against Dallas-based Southwest if the talks deteriorate further.
A work stoppage would cause a huge disruption in California, where Southwest -- which specializes in frequent, short-haul service -- is the busiest carrier with 577 daily departures. Nearly 2,000 of Southwest's flight attendants are based in California.
The airline usually reaches long-term contracts with its employee groups with little rancor, giving it sustained labor peace. In fact, Southwest has had only one strike in its history, a three-day walkout by its mechanics 24 years ago.
The flight attendants say they can't live on pride alone. "We work for the most successful airline in the industry," said Gwen Dunivent, a 24-year Southwest flight attendant who lives in Garland, Texas. "We're maybe the most important employee group, because it's up to us whether people come back. We need a little recognition of that."
Matters have become so strained that Southwest Chief Executive James Parker last week asked his predecessor as CEO -- the carrier's legendary co-founder and Chairman Herbert Kelleher -- to take over the airline's seat at the bargaining table. Before succeeding Kelleher in 2001, Parker had long served as the airline's chief labor negotiator.
Parker turned to Kelleher after concluding "that we're spinning our wheels here, and need to take a new tack," company spokesman Ed Stewart said.
By enlisting Kelleher, Parker tapped what is arguably the airline's biggest asset. At 73, Kelleher is the wisecracking, chain-smoking executive who created and nurtures the freewheeling, can-do culture, a revered figure at Southwest, where everyone calls him "Herb."
