Southwest Air Sees Need to Keep Balancing Schedule Next Year
- Carrier trims fourth-quarter capacity 8% from pre-Covid level
- Third-quarter loss comes in narrower than analysts expected
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Southwest Airlines Co. will continue to adjust capacity into next year as it struggles to hire enough workers to avoid delays and provide a larger corps of reserve crews to recover when operations are disrupted.
The carrier trimmed its flight schedule for the second time since August, saying fourth-quarter capacity will be down 8% from 2019’s pre-pandemic level. It previously projected a 5% drop. Southwest’s December flying will be about 12% lower than it was two years ago, following “aggressive” expansion in the third quarter, the airline said Thursday as it released quarterly financial results.