Southwest cuts 90,000 flights in November and December

Southwest Airlines cut more than 90,000 flights from its November and December schedules, trying desperately to avoid empty aircraft heading into the important holiday travel season.

Dallas-based Southwest cut 38,000 flights from its November plans, or about 36 percent of all trips, according to Dallas-based Airline Data Inc. The carrier also cut 55,000 flights for December, nearly half of its entire schedule.

“We recently revised our November and December published schedules aligning to what’s become a process through late spring, summer, and now autumn and into the holiday period … simply because fewer people are traveling,” said Southwest spokesman Brad Hawkins in an email. “Of course, we’re adding in extra flights to lean in on the part of the Southwest Promise to keep middle seats open (currently through Nov. 30), but this is simply an effort to put forth a schedule that addresses the demand for travel that we’re seeing.”

As recently as May, Southwest was bullish on holiday travel with hopes of the COVID-19 pandemic dying down before the winter months and passengers eager to get back on planes. But the airline recovery has failed to materialize, and Southwest is pulling flights even though tickets have already been sold.

“Southwest is continuing to do what it and all the carriers have been doing since COVID began,” said Jeff Pelletier, managing director at Airline Data Inc. “This is going to be our new normal for the foreseeable future.”

Southwest hasmade this kind of move over and over again in the last few months, posting optimistic flight schedules and then cutting them four to six weeks in advance, ostensibly because tickets just aren’t selling. But the airline recovery has stalled, with passenger traffic down 68 percent compared to last year, according to air carrier trade group Airlines for America.

That’s forced airlines to remove flights from schedules, Pelletier said.

Southwest’s flight cuts come as airlines are begging federal leaders for more aid to keep employees on payrolls for another six months. Southwest has said it won’t furlough employees in 2020, but it might not be able to hold off on cutting employees much longer if another airline stimulus package doesn’t make it through Congress.

Southwest understands that schedule changes may alter travelers’ itineraries, Hawkins said.

“But we recognize that means previously nonstop journeys now require a same-plane stop, or a connection, or a journey that might not seem a logical, straight line,” Hawkins said. “So, when we pushed new travel details to every person whose plans were modified as a result of the schedule change, we included additional flexibility for additional changes, along with our thanks for their patience.”

Southwest’s flight cuts for November and December will come during crucial holiday travel periods. Southwest cut about 29 percent of its Thanksgiving Day flights, including 29 flights at Dallas Love Field, where its corporate headquarters is located.

In December, Southwest is reducing its Christmas day flying by about 47 percent systemwide.

Southwest was the first of the major airlines to make big cuts to its November and December schedules, but other major airlines are expected to do the same soon.