Boeing problems lead Southwest to drop service to four airports

Source: CNN

Southwest Airlines announced Thursday it will stop serving four airports due to delays in the delivery of jets from Boeing that the aircraft manufacturer had promised until its cutback in production earlier this year.

The four airports are Bellingham International Airport in Washington state, Cozumel International Airport in Mexico, Syracuse Hancock International Airport in New York and Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport. Southwest will continue to serve Houston’s other airport.

“The recent news from Boeing regarding further aircraft delivery delays presents significant challenges for both 2024 and 2025,” said Southwest CEO Bob Jordan in the company’s first-quarter financial results statement. “We are reacting and replanning quickly to mitigate the operational and financial impacts. Consequently, we have made the difficult decision to close our operations [at the four airports].”

Also on Thursday, Southwest (LUV) announced it lost $218 million excluding special items, or 36 cents a share, in the first quarter. That was up from the $163 million it lost on that basis a year ago. The loss came despite record first-quarter revenue of $6.3 billion, up 11% from a year earlier. The jump in revenue came from an increase in passenger traffic, as fare data showed passengers paying about the same amount to fly every mile.

Read more: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/boeing-problems-lead-southwest-drop-141723660.html