Southwest Airlines

As October winds down, Americans around the country are booking flights home for the holidays.

Despite the deadline, Southwest CEO Gary Kelly said during the company's third-quarter earnings call that no one will lose their job on Dec. 9 even if the airline isn't "perfectly in compliance."

Southwest faced a significant loss earlier this month from flight cancellations, customer refunds and "gestures of goodwill."

The Allied Pilots Association and Southwest Airlines Pilots Association cited a significant increase in reports to the Federal Aviation Administration's Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP) about distractions in the cockpit, including discussions about the airlines' vaccine mandates.

United Airlines Holdings Inc. said the spread of the more contagious variant of Covid-19 slowed flying during the third quarter but hasn’t derailed its recovery.

The Southwest Airlines Pilots Association (SWAPA) has asked a federal court in Texas for a temporary restraining order to prevent the airline from implementing its COVID-19 vaccine mandate for employees on Nov. 24.

Nearly 2,400 flights were canceled from Saturday through Monday which the airline blamed on bad weather and air traffic control issues.

Southwest and American Airlines, both based out of Texas, reportedly plan to continue requiring the vaccine for its employees despite Gov. Greg Abbott’s new ban on vaccine mandates this week.

Southwest Airlines resumed normal operations Wednesday, after thousands of passengers were impacted during five days of flight disruptions

Matthew Hampton, assistant inspector general for aviation audits, issued a memo Tuesday announcing the audit, which he said would "assist FAA’s efforts" to keep air traffic control fully staffed and continue training new hires amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Southwest Airlines canceled 87 flights as of 9 a.m. ET, according to flight tracker FlightAware. Meanwhile, more than 190 flights have already been delayed, according to the data.

Southwest Airlines said in an emailed statement that it had experienced weather challenges in its Florida airports at the beginning of the weekend, which were compounded by unexpected air traffic control issues in the same region.

Republican Texas Rep. Chip Roy told Southwest Airlines to “eat it” as cancelations from the airline mounted this weekend, and critics speculated it was due to employees protesting the company's vaccine mandate.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, took to Twitter late Sunday to speculate about Southwest Airlines’ decision to cancel more than 1,000 flights just days after its pilots’ union asked a court to block the company's new COVID-19 vaccination mandate.

Southwest Airlines canceled thousands of flights this weekend amid air-traffic control issues and weather, and the airline has not given an update as to whether the cancellations may continue.

Southwest Airlines on Monday became the latest U.S. airline to require its employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

Southwest is among a handful of major U.S. carriers that are strongly encouraging employees to get vaccinated in order to better protect staff and customers especially as concerns surrounding the COVID-19 delta variant – which is fueling a surge of infections – grow.

Federal charges were filed Wednesday against a passenger accused of striking a Southwest Airlines flight attendant in the face during a May flight to San Diego.

Southwest Airlines is making cuts to its flight schedule that are expected to extend through the end of the year with the exception of heavy holiday travel times.

Southwest Airlines will begin operating domestic charter flights to help the Department of Defense relocate Afghan refugees in the U.S., according to a statement obtained by Fox Business late Sunday.