Southwest to cut service and staffing in Atlanta to slash costs

Southwest Airways is planning to scale back service to and from Atlanta subsequent yr, slicing greater than 300 pilot and flight attendant positions, in accordance with an organization memo seen by CNBC.

The modifications 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 employees it is not closing its crew base in Atlanta. As an alternative, it would scale 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 are going to possible should bid to work from different cities.

Southwest will scale back its Atlanta presence to 11 gates subsequent yr from 18, in accordance with a separate memo from the pilots’ union.

It should service 21 cities from Atlanta beginning subsequent April, down from 37 in March, the service mentioned.

“Though we strive all the pieces we will earlier than making tough selections like this one, we merely can’t afford continued losses and should make this transformation to assist restore our profitability,” Southwest mentioned in its memo. “This resolution on no account displays our Workers’ efficiency, and we’re pleased with the Hospitality and the efforts they’ve made and can proceed to make with our Clients 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 Clients. Administration continues to make selections that lack full transparency, adequate communication with Union management, and most alarmingly, a scarcity of concentrate on what has made the airline nice, the Workers,” mentioned Invoice Bernal, the flight attendants’ union president.

A Southwest spokesman confirmed the modifications and mentioned the service will “proceed to optimize our community to fulfill buyer demand, finest make the most of our fleet, and maximize income alternatives.”

The airline had already pulled out of sure airports, a few of which it experimented with throughout the pandemic to concentrate on extra worthwhile service.

Southwest shouldn’t be 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 employees final week that it must make “tough selections” to spice up earnings.

The discount in Atlanta, the world’s busiest airport and Delta Air Traces house hub, is the newest growth for the airline. In July, Southwest introduced it plans to eliminate open seating and supply further legroom on its airplanes, the largest modifications in its greater than half-century of flying.

Additionally on Wednesday, Southwest launched an expanded schedule, promoting tickets by way of June 4. Along with the deliberate cuts in Atlanta, the service mentioned it would enhance service to and from Nashville, Tennessee. It should 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.