Southwest Airlines quarterly profit slides 30% and says growth will slow next year
Southwest Airlines earned $193 million in the third quarter, 30% less than its profit a year ago
By DAVID KOENIG
Published - Oct 26, 2023, 03:30 PM ET
Last Updated - Oct 26, 2023, 03:31 PM EDT
DALLAS (AP) — Southwest Airlines' third-quarter profit fell 30% to $193 million despite record revenue as leisure travel boomed over the summer, and the airline is losing pricing power at the same time that labor costs are rising.
Southwest said Thursday that it will throttle back growth plans next year because of changes in travel, including a disappointingly slow recovery in business travel.
“The whole sector is under pressure obviously," CEO Robert Jordan said on CNBC. "Costs are rising, and a lot of that is labor cost.”
The results, and particularly Southwest’s plans to grow more slowly, are likely to add to concern that demand for affordable domestic travel — the heart of Southwest’s business — is weakening.
