Southwest Airlines is trimming down its flight schedule through the end of 2021 in an effort to cut down on delays and cancellations.

The company faces the same struggles as other major airlines while worker shortages and uncertain travel trends persist amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Southwest is cutting 27 flights per day that had been slated to take off between Sept. 7 and Oct. 6, and another 162 flights per day will be removed from the schedule between Oct. 7 and Nov. 5. After the adjustments, the average flights per day for those time periods will be 3,304 and 3,420, respectively.

Over the summer, Southwest took heat for canceling thousands of flights, slashing 40% of their schedule over just one weekend. A spokesperson for the airline told FOX Business at the time, “As the weather radar has been illustrating over the past few days, the cancellations are due to convective thunderstorms across the nation from Denver and Chicago down to Houston, Dallas, the Gulf Coast and Florida – all areas with our busiest flight schedules.”

Read more By Breck DumasFOXBusiness

(NEXSTAR) – A Southwest Airlines pilot is going viral for his frank, funny remarks concerning the federal mask mandate during a recent pre-flight announcement.

As seen in a video clip making the rounds on social media, the pilot ticks through a shortlist of rules, urging his passengers to refrain from drinking alcohol and abide by the federal mask mandate for the well-being of his crew.

“When you listen to what I have to say, I look really cool in front of them,” he announces from the front of the plane. “After all, look at me. I’m a man in polyester pants and a short-sleeve dress shirt. ‘Cool’ is not exactly my middle name right now.”

He then reiterates Southwest’s alcohol policy — “We don’t serve it, you don’t drink it” — before imploring passengers to leave their masks on when not eating or drinking.

“The masks: There is not an eye-roll you can give me that I haven’t seen 750,000 times in the last year,” he announces to the cabin. “I know you don’t like ‘em. I don’t like ‘em either. We have to wear ‘em. It’s a rule. It’s not a political statement, it’s not me taking your rights away, it’s not me asserting my will on you, et cetera, et cetera.

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CHICAGO (WLS) — Southwest Airlines launched for the first time from Chicago’s O’Hare Airport Sunday.

The low-cost carrier served Midway Airport since 1985 but never at the North Side airport.

Midway Airport and the surround neighborhood saw one of the biggest snow totals in the city: about 18 inches.CHICAGO (WLS) — Southwest Airlines launched for the first time from Chicago’s O’Hare Airport Sunday.

The low-cost carrier served Midway Airport since 1985 but never at the North Side airport.

“Booked the tickets and had to do like a double take as far as it’s at O’Hare,” said Colin Uthe, Southwest Airlines passenger.

Travelers can now choose from 16 daily flights to Baltimore, Dallas, Denver, Nashville and Phoenix. Orlando will be added as a weekend destination starting in March.

“It’s been a long-time coming, but we’re excited to get to north Chicago,” said Dave Harvey, Southwest Airlines vice president.

Harvey hopes the expansion will help the Southwest Airlines business that was hurt by the COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID-19 forced Southwest Airlines to cancel almost 40% of its daily flights last spring.

“Nobody knew how deep and how long the impact of COVID was going to be on the industry,” Harvey said.

Harvey said that the global pandemic is also the reason Sunday’s O’Hare launch is even possible.

With air travel plummeting, Southwest Airlines said it secured newly available gate access at the international Terminal 5.

“There’s a lot of great corporate and government business in north Chicago, and some of those travelers aren’t willing to drive down to Midway, so we want to be right around the corner, and we want to serve their airport of choice,” Harvey said.

Read more by Jesse Kirsch and Megan Hawkins

Winter Savings on Spring Travel

Southwest Airlines has put its spring flight schedule on sale this winter. Now through Thursday, January 14, customers can save big on travel between January 29 and May 26, 2021, with flights available for as low as $39 one-way or $78 roundtrip on a handful of popular routes. Here’s a look at the cheapest routes travelers can book right now during Southwest’s latest sale.

Las Vegas (LAS)

Whether traveling to or from Las Vegas via McCarran International Airport, Southwest customers stand to save big this spring as they’ll find one-way fares from $39 for travel between Sin City and a slew of top domestic destinations throughout Southern California and the American Southwest, including Burbank, Los Angeles, Oakland, Phoenix, Reno-Tahoe, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose and Tucson. 

Denver (DEN)

Travelers eyeing a ski vacation this winter can book nonstop flights between Denver and Telluride, Colorado via Montrose Regional Airport for as low as $39 one-way. Travelers flying into or out of the Mile High City can also book fares as low as $67 one-way for travel to and from Albuquerque, Colorado Springs, Oklahoma City, Omaha, Salt Lake City, Steamboat Springs and Wichita.

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Winter in a wonderland with fares starting as low as $49 one-way across the United States.

DALLAS — Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) launched a 10-day flash sale today through Nov. 5, 2020, 11:59 p.m., Central Time, with fares starting as low as $49 one-way. From the mountains to the beach, Customers can look forward to booking their perfect winter wonderland get away for the holiday season.  

Customers can hit the slopes this winter at one of their favorite skiing destinations. There are plenty of fantastic destinations to choose from such as Steamboat Springs (Hayden) CO (starting Dec. 19, 2020); Montrose (Telluride), CO (starting Dec. 19, 2020); Denver, CO; or Reno/Tahoe, NV. No matter what Customers choose, they are in for snow much fun!

Ready to shell-ebrate the holidays by the beach instead? Customers may choose from one of our fun-in-the-sun destinations such as San Diego, CA; Ft. Myers, FL; Panama City Beach, FL; Pensacola, FL; or Tampa, FL. 

Seats, days, and markets are limited. Blackout dates and advance purchase requirements apply. See a full list of fares, fare rules, and terms and conditions at Southwest.com. Examples of one-way low fares include:

As low as $49 one-way nonstop between Houston (Hobby) and Pensacola,

As low as $49 one-way nonstop between Miami and Tampa,

As low as $49 one-way nonstop between Oakland and Reno,

As low as $59 one-way nonstop between Montrose (Telluride) and Denver, and

As low as $59 one-way nonstop between Baltimore/Washington and Charleston.

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If you’re looking for an airline stock to buy, consider Southwest Airlines. The stock is a “less leaky equity bucket” than rivals, according to Berenberg analyst Adrian Yanoshik, which may be as good as it gets in the sector these days.

Yanoshik upgraded Southwest (ticker: LUV) to a Buy rating on Tuesday, granting it a $45 price target, up from recent prices around $38. He downgraded American Airlines Group (AAL) to a Sell and Delta Air Lines (DAL) to a Hold, and maintained a Hold rating on United Airlines (UAL).

Alaska Air (ALK), meanwhile, joined American, United, and Delta in dropping change fees (to varying degrees). That leaves JetBlue Airways (JBLU), Spirit Airlines Spirit Airlines Inc. $17.73 0.12 (0.68%) Open $17.93 Volume 14.49M P/E Ratio 3.38 Div Yield N/A Market Cap $1.56B 17.19 18.73 (SAVE), and Allegiant Travel (ALGT) as the last major carriers to maintain change fees (along with privately held Frontier Airlines), though all are waiving the fees temporarily.

Eliminating change fees could help stimulate demand, but it’s also likely to intensify competition between the legacy and ultra-low-cost carriers, making for more competitive pricing in economy-class fares.

Read more ……. by Daren Fonda

ST. LOUIS — Southwest Airlines will add to its list of nonstop flights from St. Louis Lambert International Airport in November when it adds two new daily flights to Indianapolis International Airport.

“We are thrilled Southwest is adding an additional nonstop route from St. Louis,” Rhonda Hamm-Niebruegge, Lambert’s director, said in a statement. “During these unprecedented times, it is important that we work with our airline partners to increase routes instead of decrease service.”

Southwest, which is Lambert’s largest carrier, will operate twice daily from St. Louis to Indianapolis at 8:35 a.m. and 7:20 p.m. Return flights from Indianapolis will arrive at 7:45 a.m. and 7:05 p.m.

In addition to the daily nonstops, St. Louis is expected to record a 9% increase year over year in overall flight activity with the airline in November and a 12% increase in December, officials said.

Southwest, located in Terminal 2, serves 53 destinations from St. Louis. The airline hasn’t made any permanent cuts to its route list at Lambert since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, though temporary reductions of mostly seasonal routes have been made, a spokesman for the airport said.

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It’s easy to make big statements, especially if you have a strong company. It’s a little harder, though, to turn them into actions.

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Southwest Airlines Co (LUV.N) said Tuesday it will cut more than 40% of flights from May 3 through June 5 amid a sharp decline in travel demand from the coronavirus pandemic.

The U.S. airline said will fly 2,000 flights a day, down 1,700 over normal levels. The airline previously said it was cancelling 1,500 flights a day in April. Southwest said it will preserve more than 80% of itineraries it previously offered but said some non-stop flights will now require a connection. Southwest is also shortening its operational day, removing many departures previously scheduled before 7 am and after 8 pm.

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Now there’s even more bad news for Southwest flyers. Yesterday, Southwest Airlilnes announced that it was pushing its scheduled return of the 737 Max aircraft to June 6, 2020.

This action will result in the cancellation of approximately 330 weekday flights during the period from mid-April to early-June 2020. United and American Airlines had previously announced that they were pushing the return of the 737 Max to June 2020.

Unfortunately, the flight schedules of a “limited number” of Southwest customers who had already booked travel will be affected by this shuffle. These customers will be “re-accommodated” by the airline.

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