Southwest Airlines removes these flights from June
The past two years have been difficult for the airline industry as airlines have had to adapt to travel during a pandemic. But even though the COVID situation has improved, the challenges have barely lessened. Major airlines in the United States are now facing staff shortages amid increased travel demand. As a result, the more than 99 million passengers who rely on Southwest Airlines may find it difficult to book some flights this summer. Read on to find out where this low-cost airline is cutting flights in June.
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Like many other carriers, Southwest Airlines has already canceled a number of flights in 2022. According to the Houston Chronicle, the airline cut 65,000 flights from its spring schedule earlier this year. “[Southwest’s] The flight schedule is currently published until September 5, 2022 and, as previously reported, the company has recently reduced its published flight schedules from March to May 2022 due to ongoing difficulties with available personnel,” the company said. airline in a March regulatory filing.
The cuts are far from over. Southwest Airlines just cut thousands of domestic flights scheduled for June 2022, business journals reported April 25. According to the outlet, data from aviation analytics firm Cirium showed the carrier initially had 119,039 domestic flights scheduled for this month. But Southwest is cutting 8,250 of those flights, cutting its entire June schedule by 6.9%.
Travelers from Denver, Colorado will be the hardest hit by Southwest’s latest cuts. According to Simple Flying, the carrier cut nearly 10% of its June flights to Denver International Airport, cutting its domestic schedule for that city by 814 flights. Baltimore/Washington Thurgood Marshall International Airport is also taking a big cut, losing 717 flights, per Simple Flying.
And another major city affected is Louisville, Kentucky. According to business journalsMuhammad Ali International Airport in Louisville is down to 327 departures in June from 353 scheduled flights originating.
Airlines usually finalize their schedules 90 days before departures, according to business journals. And while many other airlines have also made cuts for June, none have been as drastic as Southwest’s. Delta cut its domestic schedule for June by 517 flights, while American Airlines cut only 83 flights for the same month. Cirium data showed that while United Airlines actually increased its June schedule by adding 319 domestic flights, it has already cut 3,785 flights for July.
Southwestern officials said business journals that the carrier has continually adjusted its flight schedule throughout the COVID pandemic based on its capacity. But the shortage of pilots is also an important factor in these decisions. Peter Greenberga CBS News editor, said major airlines are having to cancel large-scale flights for the summer, mostly because there are “not enough pilots, not enough cabin crew. And they literally can’t stick to the schedule they have.”
RELATED: Southwest is adding flights to these 3 major cities, starting June 5.