The pilots' respective unions and both airlines on Thursday signed a four-party process agreement that provides for seniority integration discussions prior to the close of Southwest's buyout of AirTran.
Despite its stellar record of passenger care, Southwest has been caught breaking federal rules with regards to how it treats passengers bumped from oversold flights.
A small aircraft crashed in a remote area in the eastern Indonesian province of Papua on Thursday afternoon, killing three people, including a U.S. national.