Southwest Airlines Pilot Advances Suit Over Covid-19 Buyout Plan

Southwest Airlines Co. must face a lawsuit by a pilot who says he was wrongly denied a buyout under a voluntary separation program rolled out during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to an order issued in the Northern District of Texas.

Judge Brantley Starr of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas denied the airline’s motion to dismiss in a Monday order. Starr’s order doesn’t include a written explanation for his decision.

The lawsuit by Lafe Dunn accuses Southwest of encouraging him to apply for a buyout in 2020 while he was on short-term disability leave—and thus off ...