Southwest, United Airlines Cut Thousands of Spring Flights over Gas Prices, Staffing Issues

March 16, 2022
Southwest Airlines and United Airlines have reported a new slate of reductions to spring flight schedules, citing issues ranging from staffing shortages to high gas prices.

Mar. 15—Southwest Airlines and United Airlines have reported a new slate of reductions to spring flight schedules, citing issues ranging from staffing shortages to high gas prices.

As first reported by The Dallas Morning News' Kyle Arnold, Dallas-based Southwest Airlines posted a regulatory filing Tuesday showing the company is dropping 65,000 flights from its spring schedule in response to ongoing staffing issues.

"[ Southwest's] flight schedule is currently published through September 5, 2022, and as previously disclosed, the Company recently reduced its published flight schedules for March through May 2022 due to continuing challenges with available staffing," the company noted in Tuesday's filing.

United likewise on Tuesday filed a report noting it will reduce flight capacities, citing "macroeconomic" factors including fuel prices, supply chain issues and global instability.

"In response to several macroeconomic factors including rising fuel prices as well as expected aircraft delivery delays, [ United Airlines] has reduced its total capacity plan for the full year 2022 to be down in the high single digits versus full year 2019."

United disclosed that the reduction in flights would lead to an increase in the Cost Per Available Seat Mile (CASM) of several percentage points above previously expected benchmarks. The company called the current fiscal climate a "strong revenue environment" and projected positive pre-tax income for the quarter, despite rising fuel costs.

Both companies noted in their filings a rebounding demand for travel following spiking cases tied to the omicron variant of COVID-19. The news comes amid a host of frustrations for Houston travelers, many of whom could find themselves slogging through traffic and delays related to spring break travel and construction underway at George Bush International Airport.

According to a recent KHOU report, Houston airports expect 1.76 million people to travel through William P. Hobby Airport and George Bush International over the course of Spring Break 2022.

"A lot of people haven't been [to the airport] in a while," said Houston Airport System official Augusto Bernal. "It's really important for people to prepare and carefully plan their trip to the airport."

Travelers are advised to arrive four hours early for international flights and three hours for domestic departures.

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