FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 15, 2006

CONTACT:
Karen Absalom
Director, Member Communications
Southwest Airlines Pilots Association
kabsalom@swapa.org
214-722-4231

Southwest Airlines Pilots Association (SWAPA) Questions Authenticity of Quotes in New York Times Article

Capt. Ike Eichelkraut, President of the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association , released the following statement in regard to an article that ran in the New York Times, March 10 edition, entitled Airline Pilots Still Flying, but no Longer Quite So High, by reporter Matthew Wald. 

In an otherwise well written story highlighting the devastation which has occurred to many pilots as a result of 911, Mr. Wald credited a highly incendiary comment describing these victims as spoiled brats to a Southwest Airlines pilot.  The pilot was never interviewed by Mr. Wald. Additionally, the tone of these quotes is the antithesis of the attitude of SWAPA members who share in understanding the sacrifice so many families have experienced in what is the worse downturn in civilian aviation history.

SWAPA sent letters to the ombudsman of the New York Times asking to have the quotes attributed to the proper individuals with a correction or a full retraction. SWAPA has urged the New York Times to conduct an investigation which SWAPA was confident will show the quotes are unsubstantiated. SWAPA has a great relationship with our fellow professional organizations. We wanted to make sure our fellow pilots, other airline employees  and the general public fully understand SWAPA finds the unsubstantiated quotes in the New York Times article offensive and detrimental to our members and other professional pilots everywhere, said Capt. Carl Kuwitzky, SWAPAs V ice P resident.

SWAPA, headquartered in Dallas, TX, is an independent U nion which represents the more than 4,800 pilots of Southwest Airlines.