Southwest Airlines mechanics riled about new offshore maintenance push

Mechanics at Southwest Airlines are lashing out at their employer about what appears to be the carrier’s return to using offshore maintenance stations for major maintenance checks on Boeing 737 aircraft. Southwest flew an empty 737 aircraft to San Salvador’s El Salvador International Oct 14 “in order to accomplish a heavy maintenance check on that aircraft," Bret Oestreich, national director of the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association, which represents Southwest mechanics, said. The move could be a signal by Southwest management that the airline once again will do significant maintenance work in San Salvador. The carrier had employed mechanics in that country to do maintenance work for a number of years, but then abruptly ceased having work done there in 2017. <br/>