Southwest Airlines is cutting 2,000 flights a day from May 3 to June 5 in response to the reduced demand from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Dallas-based carrier has now removed 40% of its flights from its expected schedule for the period while it tries to piece together its national network with a smaller number of flights.
Southwest said many flight cuts will come at the beginning of the day before 7 a.m. and the end of the day after 8 p.m. That preserves flights at the busiest times of the day but also cuts operating hours as the airline tries to preserve cash.
“We’ve worked to share changes sooner by previously revising our foundational flight schedule from mid-April through early May,” said chief commercial officer Andrew Watterson in a blog post on the company’s website. “This gives everyone more time with their changes and allows our Network Operations Control in Dallas to focus on our daily operation.”
On Monday, Southwest CEO Gary Kelly told employees that the airline is focused on cutting costs to preserve cash. The company has also grounded about 50 of its 750 planes.
While Southwest said all but six airports will see a reduction in service from the cuts announced Tuesday, the company warned customers that some previous nonstop flights might now have to make a connection.
While the cuts are deep, Southwest hasn’t reduced service as severely as some other airlines. Fort Worth-based American Airlines is cutting 60% to 70% its flights in May. Delta is cutting about 70% of its flights across its network. However, flights to Asia and Europe have been hit the hardest, and Southwest doesn’t fly outside North America.
Southwest will start adding some flights back outside the continental United States in late May by resuming flights from Baltimore to Jamaica, Houston Hobby to Cancun and Los Cabos and bringing back flights from Oakland to Hawaii. It cut much of its Hawaii flying after the state issued a 14-day quarantine order for people arriving in the islands.
