Southwest to reduce services and staff in Atlanta to reduce costs

Southwest Airlines plans to reduce service to and from Atlanta next year, cutting more than 300 pilot and flight attendant positions, according to a company memo seen by CNBC.

The changes come a day before Southwest’s investor day, when executives will map out the company’s plan to cut costs and raise revenue as pressure mounts from activist investor Elliott Investment Management.

Southwest told staff it is not closing its Atlanta crew base. Instead, it will cut staff by 200 flight attendants and up to 140 pilots for the tender month of April 2025.

The airline is also not laying off crew, but they will likely have to bid to work from other cities.

Southwest will reduce its Atlanta presence to 11 gates next year from 18, according to a separate memo from the pilots union.

It will serve 21 cities from Atlanta starting next April, up from 37 in March, the carrier said.

“While we try our best before making difficult decisions like this, we simply cannot afford continued losses and must make this change to restore our profitability,” Southwest said in its memo. “This decision in no way reflects on the performance of our employees and we are proud of the hospitality and efforts they have made and will continue to make with our ATL customers.”

Unions representing Southwest’s pilot and flight attendants railed against the airline over staffing and service cuts.

“Southwest Airlines management is failing employees while affecting customers. Management continues to make decisions that lack full transparency, adequate communication with union leadership, and most troubling, a lack of focus on what made the airline great, the Employees,” said Bill Bernal. , the president of the flight attendant union.

A Southwest spokesperson confirmed the changes and said the carrier “will continue to optimize our network to meet customer demand, better utilize our fleet and maximize revenue opportunities.”

The airline had already pulled out of some airports, some of which it experimented with during the pandemic, to focus on more profitable services.

Southwest not only faces changing booking patterns and oversupplied parts of the US market, but also aircraft delays from Boeingwhose yet-to-be-certified 737 Max 7 planes are years behind schedule

The airline’s COO, Andrew Watterson, told staff last week that it would have to make “difficult decisions” to boost profits.

The reduction in Atlanta, the world’s busiest airport and Delta Air Lines home hub, is the latest development for the airline. In July, Southwest announced plans to get rid of open seats and offer extra legroom on its planes, the biggest changes in its more than half century of flying.

Also Wednesday, Southwest released an expanded schedule, selling tickets through June 4. In addition to the planned cuts at Atlanta, the carrier said it will boost service to and from Nashville, Tennessee. It will also begin offering overnight flights from Hawaii starting April 8. These include service from Honolulu to Las Vegas and Phoenix. Kona, Hawaii, to Las Vegas. and Maui, Hawaii, Las Vegas and Phoenix.