A Southwest Airways airplane takes off from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Worldwide Airport (ATL) in Atlanta, Georgia, US, on Friday, July 12, 2024.
Elijah Nouvelage | Bloomberg | Getty Photos
Southwest Airways is planning to cut back service to and from Atlanta subsequent 12 months, slicing greater than 300 pilot and flight attendant positions, in accordance with an organization memo seen by CNBC.
The adjustments come a day earlier than Southwest’s investor day, when executives will map out the corporate’s plan to chop prices and develop income as stress mounts from activist investor Elliott Funding Administration.
Southwest informed workers it is not closing its crew base in Atlanta. As a substitute, it would cut back staffing by as many as 200 flight attendants and as many as 140 pilots, for the April 2025 bid month.
The airline additionally is not laying the crews off, however they’ll possible must bid to work from different cities.
Southwest will cut back its Atlanta presence to 11 gates subsequent 12 months from 18, in accordance with a separate memo from the pilots’ union.
It’ll service 21 cities from Atlanta beginning subsequent April, down from 37 in March, the provider mentioned.
“Though we attempt all the things we will earlier than making troublesome selections like this one, we merely can’t afford continued losses and should make this alteration to assist restore our profitability,” Southwest mentioned in its memo. “This choice by no means displays our Workers’ efficiency, and we’re happy with the Hospitality and the efforts they’ve made and can proceed to make with our Prospects in ATL.”
The unions that symbolize Southwest’s pilot and flight attendants railed towards the airline for the staffing and repair cuts.
“Southwest Airways administration is failing Workers whereas impacting Prospects. Administration continues to make selections that lack full transparency, ample communication with Union management, and most alarmingly, a scarcity of deal with what has made the airline nice, the Workers,” mentioned Invoice Bernal, the flight attendants’ union president.
A Southwest spokesman confirmed the adjustments and mentioned the provider will “proceed to optimize our community to fulfill buyer demand, greatest make the most of our fleet, and maximize income alternatives.”
Vacationers examine in at a Southwest counter at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Worldwide Airport (ATL) in Atlanta, Georgia, US, on Tuesday, July 23, 2024.
Elijah Nouvelage | Bloomberg | Getty Photos
The airline had already pulled out of sure airports, a few of which it experimented with in the course of the pandemic to deal with extra worthwhile service.
Southwest isn’t solely going through altering reserving patterns and oversupplied components of the U.S. market however plane delays from Boeing, whose yet-to-be-certified 737 Max 7 airplanes are years delayed
The airline’s COO, Andrew Watterson, informed workers final week that it should make “troublesome selections” to spice up earnings.
The discount in Atlanta, the world’s busiest airport and Delta Air Strains house hub, is the most recent improvement for the airline. In July, Southwest introduced it plans to do away with open seating and supply additional legroom on its airplanes, the largest adjustments in its greater than half-century of flying.
Additionally on Wednesday, Southwest launched an expanded schedule, promoting tickets by means of June 4. Along with the deliberate cuts in Atlanta, the provider mentioned it would enhance service to and from Nashville, Tennessee. It’ll additionally begin providing in a single day flights from Hawaii, starting April 8. These embrace service from Honolulu to Las Vegas and Phoenix; Kona, Hawaii, to Las Vegas; and Maui, Hawaii, to Las Vegas and Phoenix.
