Southwest Pilots Lose Bid to Be Freed From Contract Talks (1)

Southwest Airlines Co. pilots were denied a request to halt contract talks with the carrier, a step that could have brought them closer to a strike.

The National Mediation Board rejected the plea from the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, signaling on Wednesday it didn’t agree with the union’s view that further meetings would be fruitless.

“I’m disappointed but not surprised” by the decision, Casey Murray, union president, said in an interview. “We are further away today than the day we filed for release, which is truly the definition of an impasse.”

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