"Boeing will never, and should not ever, be given the benefit of the doubt again," the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association president said in a letter to members.
The union that represents Southwest Airlines pilots backed the company's recent comments that it will evaluate whether to diversify its fleet beyond Boeing 737s.
Jon Weaks, president of the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, wrote in a letter to members he's worried about the 737 Max's return to service. Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) recently delayed the return date of the 737 Max into revenue service until March 2020.
"Boeing will never, and should not ever, be given the benefit of the doubt again. The combination of arrogance, ignorance, and greed should and will haunt Boeing for eternity," Weaks wrote. "I strongly concur with Southwest exploring obtaining a different and perhaps non-Boeing aircraft for the best interest of all our futures."
SWAPA and Weaks have been among the most vocal critics of Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) during the ongoing 737 Max saga. The plane has been grounded since March when it crashed twice in a five-month period, killing 346 people.
Southwest is the largest operator of the 737 Max and was the launch customer for the plane. The airline had 34 Max planes in its fleet at the time of the plane's grounding and has hundreds more on order.
Southwest has cancelled tens of thousands of flights since the March grounding, and employees are losing wages. SWAPA sued Boeing last month, saying the grounding has caused pilots to lose $100 million in wages during the ordeal.
Also in the letter to pilots, Weaks expressed concern about Boeing publicizing the fact it may have to shut down the 737 Max production line since it's running out of storage room.
Weaks is worried Boeing publicizing this fact is "simply another tactic to push the (return to service) timeline up, force operators to resume making payments on Max aircraft, and transfer some costs, logistics, and responsibilities of storing and restoring the Max to revenue service to respective operators," he wrote.
Southwest is famous for its all-737 fleet. Kelly said this year the board has asked him to evaluate that strategy, and Southwest leadership made a visit to an Airbus operator this spring.
The possibility of Southwest adding Airbus planes to its fleet has fueled speculation that the Dallas-based carrier would scoop up one of the smaller players in the industry.
An investment bank recently downgraded Southwest on worries the carrier would pursue acquisition, which would create "significant risks in the near term" for Southwest, the analysts said.
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It’s been a busy week in aviation and aerospace as Southwest Airlines rethinks the future of its Boeing 737 fleet, SpaceX launches dozens of satellites, and L-3’s co-founder makes a C4ISR play..
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