Southwest Airlines is cutting service at four airports in the US and Mexico amid financial losses and delayed delivery of new aircraft from Boeing.
The budget airline said it would no longer fly to several “underperforming markets,” including Syracuse Hancock International Airport in upstate New York, Bellingham International Airport in Washington State, Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport or Cozumel International Airport in Mexico.
“The recent news from Boeing regarding further aircraft delivery delays presents significant challenges for both 2024 and 2025,” CEO Bob Jordan said in a statement. “We are reacting and replanning quickly to mitigate the operational and financial impacts. Consequently, we have made the difficult decision to close our operations.”
The delayed deliveries from Boeing stem from the January incident during which a door panel on an Alaska Airlines plane blew out mid-flight, leading to the grounding of some aircraft.
The delay already lead to a hiring freeze for pilots and flight attendants at the airline — a step other careers have taken, as well.
Southwest’s entire fleet is Boeing aircraft.
Despite bringing in a record first-quarter revenue of $6.3 billion, Southwest reported only $218 million in the last quarter.
Jordan added that the company was limiting hiring and “offering voluntary time off programs” with the expectation of having around 2,000 fewer at the end of the year.
The service cuts come a day after Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced new rules that would give automatic refunds to travelers if their flight was canceled or significantly delayed, a change partially inspired by Southwest’s widespread delays and cancellations during the 2022-23 holiday season.
