Southwest to chop service and staffing in Atlanta to slash prices

Southwest Airways is planning to scale back service to and from Atlanta subsequent 12 months, reducing greater than 300 pilot and flight attendant positions, in keeping 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 strain mounts from activist investor Elliott Funding Administration.

Southwest informed workers it is not closing its crew base in Atlanta. As a substitute, it can 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’ll possible need to bid to work from different cities.

Southwest will scale back its Atlanta presence to 11 gates subsequent 12 months from 18, in keeping with a separate memo from the pilots’ union.

It’s going to service 21 cities from Atlanta beginning subsequent April, down from 37 in March, the provider stated.

“Though we strive all the things we are able to earlier than making troublesome selections like this one, we merely can’t afford continued losses and should make this transformation to assist restore our profitability,” Southwest stated in its memo. “This choice under no circumstances displays our Staff’ 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 signify Southwest’s pilot and flight attendants railed in opposition to the airline for the staffing and repair cuts.

“Southwest Airways administration is failing Staff whereas impacting Prospects. Administration continues to make selections that lack full transparency, adequate communication with Union management, and most alarmingly, an absence of concentrate on what has made the airline nice, the Staff,” stated Invoice Bernal, the flight attendants’ union president.

A Southwest spokesman confirmed the modifications and stated the provider 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 just 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 not on time

The airline’s COO, Andrew Watterson, informed workers final week that it must make “troublesome selections” to spice up earnings.

The discount in Atlanta, the world’s busiest airport and Delta Air Strains residence hub, is the newest improvement for the airline. In July, Southwest introduced it plans to do away with open seating and provide additional legroom on its airplanes, the greatest modifications 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 stated it can enhance service to and from Nashville, Tennessee. It’s going to 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.