Nearly 17,000 employees sign up for buyouts, leaves in bid to avoid furloughs

More than a quarter of all Southwest Airlines employees volunteered to take buyouts and extended leaves of absence as the Dallas-based carrier tries to avoid furloughs due to the COVID-19 crisis.

In a Monday audio message to employees, Southwest CEO Gary Kelly said 16,895 employees took one of the two options. That represents about 28% of the Dallas-based airline’s employees.

“I’m incredibly grateful to those of you who answered the call,” Kelly said. “I know there are stories behind every one of those 16,895 decisions _ from your incredible history at Southwest Airlines, to stories of what’s ahead in your next phase. And I personally know a lot of those stories, and it is a bittersweet moment for us, for sure.”

Some 4,400 employees opted to take voluntary separation packages and another 12,500 signed up for the extended leave, which amounts to six, 12 or 18 months away from work, Kelly said.

Southwest has about 60,000 employees in the U.S. and a handful in foreign countries where it flies.

The buyouts news comes as air traffic in the U.S. begins to stall with a surge in coronavirus cases. After about 30,000 fewer passengers a day are boarding airplanes at airports than they did a week ago, according to numbers from TSA.

Southwest will likely accept all the buyouts, Kelly said. The company still has to decide which employees will get extended leave, but it will likely be almost all of them.

Southwest and other air carriers have been desperately trying to reduce workforce numbers for the dismally low number of passengers flying. Passenger traffic is still 70% lower than it was last year, according to the Transportation Security Administration.