Pilots at Southwest Airlines have re-elected their current union president, Capt. Carl Kuwitzky, to a second term. According to the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association (SWAPA), which represents some 6,000 Southwest pilots, Capt. Kuwitzky received 82% of the votes."I am excited and honored the pilots of Southwest Airlines have chosen to re-elect me as president for the next two years," said Capt. Kuwitzky. "Many of the initiatives that began during my first term, especially as we continue to negotiate a new contract with Southwest Airlines and work to address national safety and security issues, are not complete and I am looking forward to seeing these projects to their conclusion. Serving the most experienced pilot group at the nation’s number one carrier of domestic passengers is an honor and a privilege that I do not take lightly."
Capt. Kuwitzky, a native of Oklahoma, has been a pilot at Southwest Airlines since July 1983 and is currently based at Dallas Love Field. Prior to his election as president of SWAPA, he served as vice-president in 2006, as a member of the Board of Directors representing Phoenix and Houston Hobby and also as chairman of both the Scheduling and Air Safety committees. He also served as a member of the Negotiating Committee and merger committee during the Southwest Airlines acquisition of Muse Air in 1986.
Capt. Kuwitzky and SWAPA leaders are continuing work on national issues such as cabotage/foreign ownership by participating in an advisory role in U.S./EU “Open Skies” treaty negotiations. Capt. Kuwitzky’s leadership was instrumental in helping to obtain the nation’s first biometric crew identification demonstration project now underway at Baltimore-Washington Thurgood Marshall International Airport (BWI).
