Southwest Airlines will cut flight schedule, citing 'macroeconomic uncertainty'

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24-04-2025

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The airline cited macroeconomic uncertainty as the reasoning for the scaleback 'given recent and short-lived booking trends.' Read this story for more details on the Dallas-based carrier's Q1 earnings.
Southwest revealed April 23 that it will cut its flight schedule in the second half of this year.
CNBC reported the airline cited macroeconomic uncertainty as the reasoning for the scaleback 'given recent and short-lived booking trends.'
'These incremental schedule adjustments are in progress, and based on current estimates, we now expect our full year 2025 capacity to be up roughly one percent, year-over-year,' CEO Bob Jordan said in a statement.
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In a Q1 earnings report, Southwest (NYSE: LUV) recorded a net loss of $149 million, an improvement from a loss of $231 million a year ago. The airline also reported a revenue of more than $6.43 billion, up 1.6% from a year ago, and exceeded Wall Street expectations of $6.4 billion.
The Q1 earnings report comes after an era of sweeping changes for the airline.
For the first time in the carrier's history, Southwest enacted mass layoffs in February, cutting 1,750 employees including most of its corporate team. The airlines board was also overhauled in result of a protracted fight with activist investor Elliott Investment Management.
But the layoffs did not stop there.
Just one month later, the airline cut roughly 120 employees by what the airlines called a workforce 'restructuring.' The cut affected ground operations and frontline workers.
In addition to the reduction in workforce, other changes include adjustments to its loyalty program, expiration dates on flight credits, a new basic economy fare, a new partnership with Expedia, and ditching its open seating model while adding premium seat options and red-eye flights.
Next month, the airline plans to start charging travelers for bags, getting rid of a decades-old policy to check two bags for free.
The changes, which have been implemented within the last year, were made to boost revenue and lower expenses for the Dallas-based airline, a 'transformational plan' outlined by Jordan last year.
'We are confident in the initiatives we have outlined and the value we expect them to produce," Jordan said in a statement. "We are committed to executing on these plans while controlling what we can control.'