Southwest Airlines Statement Regarding Appearance Tech Vote On Its Tentative Agreement

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Jul 27, 2011, 03:18 ET

DALLAS, July 27, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) today offered a statement in response to the "no" vote by its Appearance Techs, represented by the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA), on the tentative agreement it had with the Company:

"There was substantial effort to craft an offer that balanced healthy wage increases with the flexibility needed to remain competitive in the increasingly difficult economic environment that our industry faces," said Mike Van de Ven, Southwest Airlines Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. "For this agreement to be rejected in the face of those realities is disappointing."

AMFA represents more than 260 Appearance Techs. Earlier this year, Southwest and AMFA reached a tentative agreement on a new six-year contract that would have become amendable February 2015. The current collective bargaining agreement became amendable in February 2009.

www.southwest.com

SOURCE Southwest Airlines