Southwest Airlines is facing more scrutiny after a major policy change, but it has nothing to do with angry customers.

The airline’s flight attendants union is “disappointed” after the company said it would allow all employees to access spare cabin jump seats, according to Sam Wilkins, first vice president of Transport Workers Union Local 556.

In a statement shared with The Dallas Morning News, Southwest, which is based at Dallas Love Field, confirmed that it is “re-opening the cabin jumpseat for non-revenue travel to eligible employees later this year.” The airline did not specify when the policy would be switched back. The policy reversal comes less than three months after Southwest restricted jump seat access to pilots and flight attendants on April 1, Wilkins, who has been a Southwest flight attendant for nearly 29 years, told The News. 

The change came after “a couple different” unions at Southwest filed grievances against the original policy change, Wilkins said. “In talks prior to the arbitration proceeding, they settled and decided to go ahead and reverse the policy, and so that’s where we’re at right now,” she said.

Some independent blogs reported that the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association’s Local 18, which represents some of Southwest’s mechanics, had filed a grievance over the matter and had been scheduled to go to arbitration with the airline before the policy was reversed. Local 18 did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.

What are jump seats?

Jump seats are extra seats that are located in the cabin and cockpit on aircraft. While they can’t be accessed by regular passengers, they usually can be used by certain airline employees. In the U.S., cockpit jump seats are regulated by the federal government. 

The number of jump seats on a Southwest Airlines flight depends on the aircraft, Wilkins explained. On Southwest’s Boeing 737-700 aircraft, there are three flight attendants and four jump seats, meaning one extra seat. On Southwest, Boeing 737-800s or 737 MAX 8s are staffed by four flight attendants, leaving two extra jump seats.

Wilkins said that there are typically extra jump seats available on flights, unless there is an extra flight attendant who is onboard to undergo training. 

'Numerous issues and concerns'

Over the years, TWU Local 556 had “numerous issues and concerns” regarding all Southwest employees getting unrestricted access to cabin jump seats, according to Wilkins. 

Under the longstanding policy, any Southwest employee could show up to the airport and sign up for a jump seat on a first-come, first-serve basis as a non-revenue passenger. The benefit was often used not only by flight attendants commuting to work but also other employees traveling from one destination to another, Wilkins said. Southwest is the only airline to offer all-employee access to its jump seats, according to Wilkins. 

Other airlines, such as Fort Worth-based American Airlines, do not provide the same widespread access, Wilkins said. 

“It’s something that the company has crafted as a travel benefit, but again, that’s where we object,” Wilkins said. “We don’t just see it as an extra seat that they could occupy as a travel benefit. It is a seat that should be occupied by flight attendants or pilots or qualified employees.”

“We believe that anyone that sits on that jump seat should be able to command an evacuation, and that they should have the same qualifications as flight attendants.”

When employees sitting in a jump seat board the aircraft, a flight attendant will go over how to operate cabin exits, how to display credentials, and how to operate the jump seat itself, she said.

One of the concerns Local 556 has raised with Southwest management over the years is regarding the physical standards for people occupying the jump seat. 

“Our concern is that even if the employee has the best of intentions of doing that module or training, or whatever that looks like, if they board the aircraft and they don’t necessarily fit on the jump seat that is of course a safety concern because the jump seat isn’t a big seat to begin with, that’s why we have, as flight attendants, physical standards. And that’s across the industry.”

Other concerns, according to Wilkins, have ranged from issues like inappropriate clothing while sitting in a jump seat to being unable to verify whether jump seat occupants had consumed drugs or alcohol before boarding a flight, which is not allowed for flight attendants wanting to sign up to sit in the seat. 

Wilkins added that “right now we are seeing some of the highest rates of severe turbulence reports.” 

TWU Local 556's stance is that jump seat access should only be given to “those who are crew qualified because we know they know what to do in an unplanned emergency, in a planned emergency, in any type of event that is a medical event,” Wilkins said. 

Southwest in its statement said that “nothing is more important to Southwest than the safety of our employees and our customers. ‘To ensure we continue that focus on safety, employees who wish to fly on the cabin jumpseat will complete specific training prior to travel and there will be refreshed expectations for those traveling on the cabin jumpseat.’

Southwest did not specify what that training would entail.  

Wilkins said that Southwest management had notified TWU Local 556 that non-crew employees will take “some type of training” in order to occupy the jump seat, but “we have no knowledge of what that looks like.”

TWU 556 is working with its safety and health committee on the next steps following the policy reversal, Wilkins said. 

“We’re also looking at all options, including going to the company and working with them on a resolution that would be satisfactory,” she said.

“That’s our job as a union, but that would be in their hands because they are the ones who create these policies, implement these policies, and oversee these policies. We will certainly seek resolution in favor of our flight attendants with a priority on safety.”