The following article, Southwest Airlines Plans to Fire 2,000 Workers, was first published on Big League Politics.
On April 25, 2024, Southwest Airlines published a press release declaring its plans to fire close to 2,000 employees and withdraw service to four airports after financial troubles.
“[W]e are implementing cost control initiatives, including limiting hiring and offering voluntary time off programs. We now expect to end 2024 with approximately 2,000 fewer Employees as compared with the end of 2023,” Bob Jordan, the president and CEO of Southwest Airlines, declared in the press release.
On top of that, Jordan announced that Southwest Airlines was closing its service to three airports in the United States and one in Mexico. “[W]e have made the difficult decision to close our operations at Bellingham International Airport, Cozumel International Airport, Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport, and Syracuse Hancock International Airport,” Jordan declared in the press release.
The company also has plans of downsizing its aircraft fleet from 814 to 802 planes by the end of 2024, the press release highlighted.
The company asserted in the press release that the surging labor costs “as well as pressure from planned maintenance expenses” had placed a major dent in Southwest’s finances. There was some positive news in the press release. “While it is disappointing to incur a first-quarter loss, we exited the quarter with healthy profits and margins in the month of March,” Jordan also highlighted in the press release.
What’s taking place at Southwest Airlines will become the norm in the next few years as the American economy careens out of control. Wholesale sectors of the economy will start to witness job reductions and some may go through full-blown closures. Until inflation is tamed and the regulatory state is rolled back, further economic stagnation will continue.
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