Southwest Airlines will offer buyouts to workers at 18 airports across the country as the Dallas-based carrier cuts back on flying planes due to “aircraft delivery delays” from Boeing.
Southwest employees at airports including ramp agents, customer service agents, cargo workers and operations agents are among those eligible to take the voluntary separation packages. The airline is also offering a “employee time off” program in January that will allow workers to take unpaid time off and return to their jobs later. The company offered similar programs during the COVID-19 pandemic to avoid job cuts after a historic decrease in flying.
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and Los Angeles International Airport have the largest number of buyout opportunities available. Customer service agents at Dallas Love Field, where Southwest is headquartered, will be eligible for the separation packages. The company did not say how many jobs it is looking to reduce.
“Southwest has reduced overall capacity to meet demand with a constrained fleet due to aircraft delivery delays,” Southwest Airlines spokesman Chris Perry said in a statement. “Offering voluntary separation and extended time off to contract and noncontract Employees, along with continued slowed hiring, will help us avert overstaffing in certain locations.”
The voluntary severance packages are available to certain ground operations contract and non-contract workers including managers. It does not include flight operations workers such as pilots and flight attendants. The company did not disclose what is in the severance packages but in 2020, Southwest offered as much as a year’s pay and four years of flight privileges for those with more than 10 years experience that opted for early retirement.
Southwest has been under pressure from major slowdowns at Boeing, which was already behind on deliveries before manufacturing workers went on a seven week strike. Boeing Machinists ratified a new contract last week, but it will still take time for the manufacturer to get back up to speed.
Southwest was expecting 79 planes this year from Boeing, the airlines’ only aircraft supplier. That included 27 of Boeing’s 737 Max-7 jets, which have not been certified to fly. After getting 19 jets earlier this year, Southwest is planning to get just one more by the end of December.
Amid slowing demand in the industry after a hot post-pandemic bounce back, airline leaders said they will cut capacity in the fourth quarter of this year by 4% compared to 2023.
Southwest has been working to reduce its workforce by about 2,000 people this year, CEO Bob Jordan said in the company’s third quarter earnings call last month. The company hit an all-time high of 75,911 full-time and part time workers at the end of 2023, but has since trimmed about 1,300 positions, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
“And then we’re committed to being down again next year,” Jordan said.
Southwest also stopped flying to four airports earlier this year in Houston; Syracuse, New York; Bellingham, Washington and Cozumel, Mexico.
Southwest has also been under pressure to cut costs and increase profitability after corporate leaders narrowly survived a tense battle with activist investor Elliott Management. Elliott claimed that Southwest was underperforming and that it’s stock price could be much higher. The two sides settled their differences in October with Elliott taking four seats on Southwest’s board of directors.
Fort Worth, Texas-based American Airlines, which flies a mix of Boeing and Airbus jets, has also cut routes because of Boeing delivery issues.
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