Are you ready for the latest conspiracy theory that's sweeping Social Media at this very moment?

Maybe you've read or watched all the talk about Southwest Airlines in the news and on social media. If not, let me get up up to date. Over the weekend, the airline canceled a couple thousand flights, leaving all kinds of folks scrambling to figure out how to get where they needed to be.

The reason for the cancelations?

According to several news outlets, including the New York Times. The airline said there were a few factors that resulted in the canceled flights "Southwest blamed the cancellations on several causes, including problems with the weather and air traffic control on Friday and an inability to get flight crews and planes to where they were needed."

Many airlines, including Southwest, cut back on employees during the pandemic and have yet to get back to their pre-pandemic numbers.

Social Media and certain news outlets suggest a more sinister plan.

Yep, you guessed it. The vaccine!  Southwest announced in the beginning of the month that all of their employees must be vaccinated by December 8th of this year to continue their employment.  American Airlines, Jet Blue, and Alaskan Airlines made similar announcements around the same time.

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It has been suggested by several conservative websites, as well as some early new reports that the reason for all of the cancellations this past weekend resulted in Pilots either walking off the job or calling in sick to protest the vaccine mandate. In fact, thanks to Social Media that theory is gaining a whole lot of traction, here is the thing though, Southwest and the Pilots Union say it isn't true.

A spokesperson for the Southwest Airlines Pilot Association told buzzfeed.com "I can say with certainty that there are no work slowdowns or sickouts either related to the recent mandatory vaccine mandate or otherwise," the union said in a statement Sunday. "SWAPA has not authorized, and will not condone, any job action."

Back in May of this year Southwest Airlines started flying out of Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport. The airline, which is based in Texas and has been in business for over 50 years, has been one of the more popular low fare carriers for the last couple of decades.

Southwest Airlines Experiences Major Flight Cancellations Across U.S.
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Of course, all of this will be replaced by the next big news cycle, but it does propose an interesting question.  Would you risk losing your job if it meant you had to get the vaccine?  Is that something you'd be willing to do?  It seems that more and more business are doing this, is this something you are fine with, or do you think mandates go against our freedoms?

Credit: The New York Times, CNBC, and Buzzfeed.com

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