Southwest Tries to Do More With Less Because of a Temporary Aircraft Shortage
Skift Take
The conventional wisdom is that airline passengers will do anything to save a buck. That's often true, but not always. Southwest has recently added more flights that depart before 6 a.m. and arrive after 10 p.m., and its load factor has suffered.
After Southwest Airlines permanently parked almost 90 of its smallest, oldest jets last year, it had a choice while it waited for Boeing's new fuel-efficient replacements. It could cut its schedule, slashing flights and reducing revenues, or it could push existing aircraft harder.
Southwest chose to do more with less, growing capacity by about 3 percent between January and June, despite starting 2017 with 17 fewer aircraft than a year earlier.
That forced the airline, which has never flown overnight red-eyes, to add flights during the only periods aircraft were available — early in the morning and late at night. In March, on average, each aircraft flew one more trip than in March 2017, Southwest spokesman Brian Parrish said.
The plan may not have worked as well as intended. Late last month, as many major U.S. airlines said they would meet or exceed revenue guidance for the first quarter, Southwest warned investors its unit revenue would fall short of expectations. However, it said, revenue would be roughly in line with last year's first quarter.
Southwest
