Southwest Airlines Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

May 30, 1979

242 N.L.R.B. 641 (N.L.R.B. 1979)

SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO.
Southwest Airlines Co. and Transport Workers Union
of America, AFL-CIO, Petitioner. Case 16-RC-
7786
May 30, 1979
SUPPLEMENTAL DECISION AND ORDER
BY MEMBERS PENELLO, MURPHY, AND TRUESDALE
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9(c) of the
National Labor Relations Act, as amended, a hearing
was held before Hearing Officer Edward B. Valverde.
Following the hearing, and pursuant to Section
102.67 of the National Labor Relations Board Rules
and Regulations, Series 8, as amended, the case was
transferred to the National Labor Relations Board
for decision. Thereafter, the Employer filed a brief.
On January 9, 1979, the National Labor Relations
Board issued a Decision and Direction of Election in
the above-entitled proceeding.' The Board found, in-
ter alia, that the Employer was not subject to the
Railway Labor Act and that it was an employer
within the meaning of Section 2(2) of the National
Labor Relations Act, as amended, and directed an
election in a unit of employees found appropriate.
Thereafter, on January 23, 1979, the Employer
(herein also called Southwest) filed certain documents
with the Board alleging that it was engaged in the
operation of interstate flight and, hence, might be
subject to the Railway Labor Act. Subsequently, on
February 8, 1979, the Board issued a Notice To Show
Cause and Order in which it notified the parties to
show cause why the record in this proceeding should
not be reopened and the proceeding remanded to the
Regional Director for Region 16 for a further hearing
concerning the jurisdiction of the Board over the Em-
ployer. The Board also ordered that the ballots cast in
the election in this proceeding be impounded pending
a determination of the jurisdiction issue. On March 1,
1979, the Board, having received no responses to the
Notice To Show Cause, reopened the record in this
proceeding and remanded it to the Regional Director
for Region 16 for the purpose of conducting a hearing
in order to receive evidence concerning the jurisdic-
tion issue.
Pursuant to this Order, a hearing was held on
March 14, 1979, before Hearing Officer Ranson Ellis.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the
National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the Na-
i239 NLRB 1253.
2 The parties did not contest the Board's jurisdiction. Until January 25,
1979, Southwest Airlines Co. made flights exclusively within the State of
Texas.
tional Labor Relations Board has delegated its au-
thority in this proceeding to a three-member panel.
The Board has reviewed the Hearing Officer's rul-
ings made at the March 14, 1979, hearing and finds
that they are free from prejudicial error. They and
hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board finds:
Southwest Airlines Co. is a Texas corporation. On
December 11, 1978, by CAB Order 78-12-70, the
Civil Aeronautics Board (hereafter the CAB) granted
the Employer authority to fly a route between Hous-
ton, Texas, and New Orleans, Louisiana.' On January
25, 1979, Southwest initiated passenger air service be-
tween Houston, Texas, and New Orleans, Louisiana,
and on February 12, 1979, expanded the service to
seven round trips per day, 5 days a week. 4 Southwest
does not interline with any other carrier or carry
United States mail.
Southwest does not take a position with respect to
the jurisdiction of the National Labor Relations
Board, although it poses the question of whether it is
now subject to the jurisdiction of the National Media-
tion Board. The Petitioner is willing to represent the
employees involved under either the National Labor
Relations Act or the Railway Labor Act.
Section 2(2) of the Act provides in pertinent part
that the term "employer" as used in the National La-
bor Relations Act should not include any person sub-
ject to the Railway Labor Act.
Accordingly, because of the nature of the jurisdic-
tional question presented here, we requested the Na-
tional Mediation Board to study the record in this
case and to determine the applicability of the Rail-
way Labor Act to the Employer. In reply, we were
advised by the National Mediation Board that, based
on the above facts:
. .. Southwest Airlines Co. is a common carrier
by air within the meaning of Section 201 of the
Railway Labor Act, as amended, 45 U.S.C.
§181. 5
In view of the foregoing, we shall dismiss the petition.
ORDER
It is hereby ordered that the petition in Case 16-
RC-7786 be, and it hereby is, dismissed.
)On January 18, 1979, the Employer petitioned the CAB for an exemption
from the provisions of title IV of the Federal Aviation Act of 1958, as
amended, and the CAB's regulations, except secs. 401(k) and 411, notwith-
standing the grant of the Houston.to-New Orleans route. Said application
had not been acted upon by the CAB at the time of the hearing.
' In January 1979, Southwest applied to the CAB for an air carrier route
between Dallas Love Field. Dallas, Texas, and New Orleans, Louisiana, Said
application had not been acted on by the CAB at the time of hearing.
Southwest Airlines Co. CJ-4760 (NMB May 8, 1979).
242 NLRB No. 101
641