FEBRUARY 18, 2025 — 15% OF WORKFORCE, 1,750 EMPLOYEES
The company has announced it would cut about 15% of its corporate workforce, or 1,750 jobs.
From CEO Bob Jordan…
Southwest Team:
We are at a pivotal moment as we carry out our three-year business plan to transform Southwest Airlines. Our transformational plan is the largest and most comprehensive in our 53-year history, and it focuses on three simple but powerful objectives. First, boost revenues and loyalty by offering our Customers the experience they want; second, maximize efficiencies and minimize costs; and third, make the most of our investments.
As we continue to work together to transform our Company, an area of intense focus will be maximizing efficiencies and minimizing costs. We must ensure we fund the right work, reduce duplicative efforts, and have a lean organizational structure that drives clarity, pace, and urgency. Improving how we work together and how we get work done has a tremendous impact on our efficiency as a Company and how we deliver against our plan.
We have made the very tough decision to move forward with a reduction in our workforce, focused almost entirely on Corporate and Leadership positions. This reduction affects approximately 1,750 Employee roles, or 15% of Corporate positions. Separations do not begin until late April. Until then, most Employees who are notified of their displacement will not work but will continue to receive their salary, benefits, and bonus, if eligible.
This is a very difficult and monumental shift, and I arrived at this decision after careful and thorough reflection, knowing how hard it will be to say goodbye to Cohearts who have been a significant part of our Culture and our accomplishments.
We are dedicated to operating safely and reliably for our Customers every single day. The fundamental objective of Leadership and Noncontract roles is to support our Frontline Employees as efficiently and effectively as possible. With the best intentions, the growth of our Leadership and Noncontract functions have outpaced our operation's growth for many years. Now, this group must become more lean, efficient, and agile to better serve our Frontline Employees in our shared mission of serving our Customers.
What to ExpectThis will be hard, and we will treat our People with the care and respect they have earned and they deserve. Impacted Employees will receive severance and will be offered resources to provide an opportunity to ask questions and prepare for the future, like sessions with Human Resource Business Partners, a dedicated Offboarding Support Team, and outplacement services.
Moving Forward TogetherThis was an extremely difficult decision to make because of its impact on our People—both those who will be directly impacted and those who will remain.
Changing how we work is an essential part of becoming a more agile Company, and it will be a journey. We are building a leaner organization with increased clarity regarding what is most important, quicker decision making, and a focus on getting the right things done with urgency—not unlike our entrepreneurial founding spirit of the 1970s. As we focus on delivering on our plan, our future will be built upon the actions we take today to ensure an even brighter future.
Southwest’s decision to slash jobs comes several months after a settlement with activist investor Elliott Investment Management, which won five Southwest board seats, short of control. The firm had also pushed for Jordan to be replaced as CEO, though it was not successful.
AUGUST 15, 2024 — ELIOT MANAGEMENT SEEKING BOARD CONTROL
Elliott Investment Management is launching a proxy fight with Southwest Airlines and plans to nominate 10 candidates for the 15-member board of directors. If Elliot captures the board, look for changes in top management, divestiture of underperforming assets, ruthless cost-cutting, including drastic personnel reductions, and upstreamed dividends to investors.
10, 2024 — MAJOR TROUBLE AHEAD
Activist Elliott Management has become the largest single stockholder with a $1.9 billion stake in the company and plans to push for leadership changes at the struggling company.
For those unfamiliar with Elliot, look for changes in top management, divestiture of underperforming assets, ruthless cost-cutting, including drastic personnel reductions, and up-streamed dividends to investors.
MAY 3, 2024 — Original post…
Dallas, Texas-based Southwest Airlines, a low-cost airline, has announced that it will stop service at Syracuse Hancock International Airport in upstate New York, Bellingham International Airport in Washington state, Cozumel International Airport in Mexico, and George Bush Intercontinental in Houston and reduce service to Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International and Chicago’s O’Hare International.
As a result of these route changes, the airline plans to lay off 2,000+ employees.
According to Bob Jordan, President and Chief Executive Officer...
"While it is disappointing to incur a first quarter loss, we exited the quarter with healthy profits and margins in the month of March. We are focused on controlling what we can control and have already taken swift action to address our financial underperformance and adjust for revised aircraft delivery expectations.
Achieving our financial goals is an immediate imperative. The recent news from Boeing regarding further aircraft delivery delays presents significant challenges for both 2024 and 2025. We are reacting and replanning quickly to mitigate the operational and financial impacts while maintaining dependable and reliable flight schedules for our Customers.
To improve our financial performance, we have intensified our network optimization efforts to address underperforming markets. Consequently, we have made the difficult decision to close our operations at Bellingham International Airport, Cozumel International Airport, Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport, and Syracuse Hancock International Airport. I want to sincerely thank our Employees, the airports, and the communities for all their incredible support over the years.
Additionally, we are evaluating options to enhance our Customer Experience as we study product preferences and expectations, including onboard seating and our cabin. And, we are implementing cost control initiatives, including limiting hiring and offering voluntary time off programs. We now expect to end 2024 with approximately 2,000 fewer Employees as compared with the end of 2023."
Change is coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life or promises for a bright future. We see good people being laid off through no fault of their own. Just because something bad hasn't happened yet doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. No one is guaranteed to wake up tomorrow and still have a job by evening. Are you now wondering, Am I Next?
