Posted on 04/25/2024 11:53:15 AM PDT by george76
Southwest Airlines issued a press statement Thursday declaring their intention to fire around 2,000 employees and cancel service to four airports following financial difficulties.
“[W]e are implementing cost control initiatives, including limiting hiring and offering voluntary time off programs. We now expect to end 2024 with approximately 2,000 fewer Employees as compared with the end of 2023,” Bob Jordan, the president and CEO of Southwest Airlines
...
Jordan also announced that the company was shutting down its service to three airports in the United States and one in Mexico. “[W]e have made the difficult decision to close our operations at Bellingham International Airport, Cozumel International Airport, Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport, and Syracuse Hancock International Airport,” the president said in the press release.
The company is also planning to reduce its aircraft from its own fleet from 814 to 802 planes by the end of this year, the press release noted.
Jordan mentioned that he was grateful to the company’s over 74,000 employees who have continued to demonstrate the “Warrior Spirit to maintain a reliable and resilient operation as we adapt to aircraft delivery constraints and adjust to slower-than-planned growth for this year and next,” the press release read.
The company claimed in the press release that the rising labor costs “as well as pressure from planned maintenance expenses” had taken their toll in these difficult times. Not everything in the press release was gloomy. “While it is disappointing to incur a first-quarter loss, we exited the quarter with healthy profits and margins in the month of March,” Jordan noted
If your fired, you don’t get unemployment. Laid off you do.
Yeah, the owner would show up in the maintenance hanger on the late shift sometimes dressed in drag to have fun with his employees. I was gag time.
I have done a lot of travel over the years in Europe. The only reason it seems cheaper is that many of the flights are incredibly short by US standards. Mile for mile, I never found it “much cheaper”.
Unless things have changed,,(I have not flown for years,,,) Frontier was not a good airline,,,And Southwest was great. But like I said.....have not been on commercial flight in many years.
In Houston and Dallas, SW uses the old original city airports. Perhaps they do the same in other cities???
Best.Economy.Ever!
If few can afford to fly use the excuse
Rising labor costs “as well as pressure from planned maintenance expenses”.
Biden will gouge someone to keep you going or just print more money.
They fly mostly out of Hobby I don’t think their footprint is that big a Bush International
Houston has a second airport.
They are only leaving Bush International, they’ll still fly into Houston Hobby. A shame because Hobby is not as clean or nice or in as good a neighborhood (all just my opinions) as is Bush.
Sounds like they have grounds to file for unemployment because they were mass fired for economic reasons.
“Houston was a big surprise.”
IMO, keep the U.S. airports and ditch all the Mexican ones.
But speaking of Houston, Southwest currently flies into both Bush and Hobby
Bkmk
Southwest Airlines has a fleet of 820 aircraft, all Boeing 737 derivatives.
Hobby, down on the south side of town.
I see, correctly or not, airlines as a hedge against oil losses. If oil goes up I make money on Suncor, ect, but I think fuel is something like 70% of expenses for airlines. Further fuel price increases will really hit discretionary travel I would think.
Most of their flights are into Houston Hobby, not George Bush.
Bush is the main one. Hobby is much smaller.
“It’s not called “South Worst” by employees for nothing.”
Not very original. Air West was nicknamed Air Worst right after the merger of Bonanza, West Coast and Pacific Airlines.
Original for our group.
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