Southwest Airlines Pilots? Association Re-Elects Capt. Carl Kuwitzky as President for Second Term

DALLAS, Oct. 24 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Southwest Airlines pilots in voting that closed today re-elected Capt. Carl Kuwitzky for a second two-year term as Union president. Capt. Kuwitzky received 82 percent of the vote in the election to represent almost 6,000 pilots. An Oklahoma native, Kuwitzky has been a pilot at Southwest Airlines since July 1983 and is currently based at Dallas Love Field.

“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’s lengthy service with SWAPA includes time as the Association’s 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 Association 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).

Located in Dallas, Texas, the Southwest Airlines Pilots' Association (SWAPA) is a non-profit employee organization representing the more than 5,900 pilots of Southwest Airlines. SWAPA works to provide a secure and rewarding career for Southwest pilots and their families through negotiating contracts, defending contractual rights and actively promoting professionalism and safety. For more information on the Southwest Airlines Pilots’ Association, visit www.swapa.org.