For months now, Southwest Airlines crew members have voiced their concerns about layovers and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Those issues include an inability to not only find decent lodging accommodations - many hotels have shuttered, others are short-staffed, and some crew have spoken about staying overnight in the airport - but, if they do find a hotel, they're finding a lack of availability of meals.
Now the airline is trying to rectify the situation, according to the Dallas Morning News.
Southwest Airlines is giving thousands of flight attendants and pilots subscriptions to restaurant delivery service DoorDash to try to alleviate some of the problems that started this summer with food and transportation shortages.
Starting Oct. 12, Southwest will give every active crew member a six-month subscription to the delivery meal service so they can get meals delivered straight to their hotels.
"This pandemic has affected our everyday lives in more ways than we can count," Southwest officials said in a memo to crew members. "As it relates to your workday, we recognize that the staffing issues felt throughout the airports, hotels, restaurants and the travel industry as a whole made it difficult to get a meal during your days and overnights."
The newspaper noted that the problem isn't exclusive to Southwest.
Pilots and flight attendants at American have reported difficulties with lodging and food, starting with staffing problems within the airlines themselves with a shortage in those who scheduled crew member hotels.
Unions have said that pilots and flight attendants show up to assigned hotels only to learn that a reservation hasn't been made or that the company hasn't provided proper payment.
Southwest Airlines has apologized to employees after the "challenging summer travel season" and has tried to improve the situation by providing grab-and-go sandwiches and salads at crew bases, the Morning News wrote.
Membership to DoorDash's zero-fee delivery service usually costs about $10 a month per customer. Crew members have to pay for the food themselves, but pilots and flight attendants are also given a per diem for food (which was about $2.30 per hour worked in 2019).
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