Major disruption. Nearly 2,000 flights cancelled in just two days.
Perhaps proving the power that We The People actually have against unconstitutional dictates emanating from an overreaching central government, an unknown number of pilots and federal workers essentially shutdown north-eastern Florida’s Jacksonville International Airport.
In spite of numerous tweets ranging from reporters from Fox News Channel to CNN, the Federal Aviation Administration is claiming that the who shutdown was little more than simply “unexpected limited staff” (seen in the tweet below).
While the American Establishment Media is basically ignoring this, both Townhall.com and Britain’s the Daily Mail are calling it for what it is.
As Town Hall’s Katie Pavlich reported;
Thousands of people experienced flight cancellations and delays out of Jacksonville International Airport this weekend after a number of federal workers and pilots reportedly staged a sickout in protest of President Joe Biden’s Wuhan coronavirus vaccine mandate.
Southwest Airlines is confirming there were issues with Air Traffic Control.
Furthermore, Michelle Thompson of the Daily Mail notes with even more specificity;
Southwest Airlines has been hit by a second day of mass-flight cancellations, two days after the firm’s pilots’ union asked a court to block a COVID vaccine mandate.
The Dallas-based carrier canceled over 1,000 flights Sunday, equivalent to 27 per cent of its entire schedule for the day.
That came hot on the heels of 808 flights canceled on Saturday. Southwest has blamed a combination of inclement weather and staffing shortages at Jacksonville Air Traffic Control Center in Florida for the disruption.
But social media users have cited a Friday court filing by the airline’s pilots union, the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, as evidence of a different cause.
That filing sought to block pilots from having to have a COVID-19 vaccine, with Southwest setting a December 8 vaccination deadline.
It is federally-required to vaccinate its employees as a holder of US government contracts.
Travel industry analyst Henry Harteveltd cited the ongoing vaccine wrangle as a possible reason for the chaos.
Southwest’s pilots union denies any industrial action is ongoing, but Harteveld said pilots could have organized to arrange in unauthorized action known as a ‘work slowdown.’
Airline sources: mass “sickout” @FAANews center in Jacksonville – caused ripple effect and 1000+ flight cancellations mostly effecting @SouthwestAir – report “sickout” protesting #VaccineMandate
— Leland Vittert (@LelandVittert) October 10, 2021
NEW: Southwest Airlines has canceled *another* 1,000 flights—more than a quarter of its Sunday schedule—per FlightAware.
It’s the second straight day of major issues. Southwest said yesterday it was working “to recover our operation.”
— Pete Muntean (@petemuntean) October 10, 2021
#UPDATE: @FAANews says limited staff at Jacksonville air traffic control facility partially led to mass flight cancellations in Florida last night. Full statement below ⬇️ @ActionNewsJax pic.twitter.com/9GBTuWjPVc
— Robert Grant (@RobertANJax) October 9, 2021