Southwest Airlines announced plans last Wednesday to eliminate 39 flights nationwide in the fourth quarter, including two flights per day from T.F. Green Airport.
In October, Southwest will cut one daily roundtrip to Philadelphia and one to Phoenix, leaving the Warwick airport with five daily flights to Philadelphia and one to Phoenix. Manchester Boston Regional Airport in New Hampshire will lose one flight to Tampa, leaving it with two per day.
The cuts will be followed in November by the addition of 46 new daily round trips “in key growth markets,” including Albuquerque, Amarillo, Birmingham, Denver, New Orleans and Seattle. The full list of flight changes is posted at www.southwest.com.
“Given the slowing U.S. economy and fuel cost pressures, we are taking these steps to adjust our capacity growth rate, which will help to restore profit growth,” CEO Gary Kelly told analysts and investors on Wednesday, after ringing the bell at the New York Stock Exchange to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Southwest shares trading on NYSE under the symbol LUV. The airline itself marked its 36th anniversary earlier this month.
“We also plan to implement a variety of revenue-enhancing initiatives by the end of 2007 that set the stage for continued profitability into the future,” he said.
Those initiatives will include slowing growth in available seat miles to about 6 percent, instead of the 8 percent previously planned; “enhancing” the airline’s low-fare structure and Rapid Rewards frequent-flyer program; launching a new ad campaign; and introducing an new boarding and seating method. Next year, Kelly added, the airline plans to expand its fleet by 19 Boeing 737s, rather than 34, ending the year with 539 aircraft
“If we find that conditions change, we will reevaluate our growth plans for future periods,” he said. “In this economic environment, we simply need to take less risk and grow more slowly.”
