Feb. 16—After a holiday catastrophe that cost the company some $800 million in pre-tax losses and ruined travel plans for thousands of flyers, Southwest Airlines isn't slowing down in 2023.
According to a report published Thursday by The Dallas Morning News' Kyle Arnold, the Dallas-based carrier is leaning into December's blows and plowing ahead with its busiest flight schedule ever out of Dallas Love Field Airport this year as it looks to recoup damages to profit margins incurred at the end of 2022.
As other carriers trim back their 2023 schedules in response to an ongoing national pilot shortage, Southwest is looking to fly more than 200 flights a day out of its Dallas hub this year over the peak summer travel months of July and August—a higher number than it ran prior to the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, according to Arnold.
A significant contributor to this increased flight volume is the addition of another gate for Southwest's use at Love Field, Arnold reports. The carrier will now have access to 18 gates at the airport in 2023, up from its longstanding 17 gates at the hub.
Southwest's ambitious plans for the year will play out in the shadow of a federal inquiry into its December operation meltdown, which earned the ire of U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and other lawmakers. In the aftermath of the carrier's more than 16,000 flight cancellations, Buttigieg pledged that his department will be "holding [Southwest] accountable for their responsibilities to customers," and last week members of the U.S. Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee grilled company execs over staffing and technological shortfalls that led to December's chaos.
Southwest's recent failures have dented its early 2023 ticket sales, according to statements made by the company in a late January investor relations report, which recounted a continued decline in overbookings in the months since the airline's holiday cancellations.
"Thus far in January 2023, the Company has experienced an increase in flight cancellations and a deceleration in bookings, primarily for January and February, which are assumed to be associated with the operational disruptions in December 2022," the company noted in the report. "As a result, the Company currently estimates a negative revenue impact in the range of $300 to $350 million in first quarter 2023."
Nonetheless, the same report projected Southwest's overall operating capacity to increase by "approximately 15 percent year-over-year" in 2023, and Southwest Airlines President and CEO Bob Jordan is quoted as saying the company's general finances remain on track.
"We remain intent on achieving long-term financial goals outlined at our December 2022 Investor Day," Jordan said. "We also intend to regain our 51-year reputation for operational excellence."
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