Southwest Curbs Labor Spending After 13% Cost Growth
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Southwest Airlines Co., the discount carrier that has never had layoffs, plans to shrink its workforce amid spending cuts of at least $100 million after higher fuel prices helped cost increases outstrip sales growth.
Southwest, which reduced its staff by 1,400 with buyouts in 2009, will be “trimming our total headcount complement overall,” Chief Executive Officer Gary Kelly said today in a message to employees. While he declined in an interview to detail how that might be done, Kelly later said on a conference call that the airline isn’t contemplating layoffs.