Southwest plans to reduce capacity, reevaluate 2024 financial outlook on delivery delays from Boeing
Shares of Southwest are plunging as the airline said that it plans to reduce capacity and reevaluate its full-year financial outlook because of fewer expected aircraft deliveries from its supplier, Boeing.
US proposes replacing engine-housing parts on Boeing jets like one involved in passenger's death
Five years after a fatal accident, federal officials are proposing modifications and additional inspections to the engine housing of nearly 2,000 Boeing jets in the U.S. The proposal by the Federal Aviation Administration on Tuesday largely follows recommendations that Boeing made to airlines in July.
At Southwest Airlines, a day of calm after a week of chaos
Southwest Airlines is returning to a relatively normal flight schedule as the focus shifts to making things right with what could be well more than a million passengers who missed family connections or flights home during the holidays, and many of whom are still missing luggage.
EXPLAINER: Why airlines fear 5G will upend travel this week
The airline industry is raising the stakes in a showdown with AT&T and Verizon over plans to launch new 5G wireless service this week, warning that thousands of flights could be grounded or delayed if the rollout takes place near major airports.
Major outage hits Amazon Web Services; many sites affected
Amazonโs cloud-service network suffered a major outage Tuesday, the company said, disrupting access to many popular sites. The service provides remote computing services to many governments, universities and companies, including News4JAX and The Associated Press.
Southwest Airlines orders 100 Boeing 737 Max planes
FILE - In this Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2020 file photo, a worker uses a flashlight to inspect an engine on a Boeing 737 Max 8 built for Southwest Airlines at Renton Municipal Airport in Renton, Wash. On Monday, mach 29, 2021, Southwest said it's expanding its all-Boeing fleet with an order for 100 737 MAX airplanes. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)NEW YORK โ Southwest Airlines said Monday it is expanding its all-Boeing fleet with an order for 100 Max jets instead of buying planes from Europe's Airbus. Southwest ordered the 150-seat 737 Max 7 and expects the first 30 to show up next year. AdCombined with past orders, Chicago-based Boeing is in line to build more than 600 Max 7 and Max 8 jets for Southwest through 2031. American and United had already resumed Max flights, and Alaska Airlines began using the plane too.
Airlines return to old ways; Southwest drops boarding change
Delta is the only airline still blocking middle seats, but there's no guarantee that'll continue past April 30. Southwest Airlines has gone back to boarding passengers in lots of 30. Southwest and several other airlines that once blocked middle seats now sell out flights if they can. The last holdout is Delta Air Lines, which has extended empty middle seats through April 30. Tuesday marked the 13th straight day that more than 1 million passengers went through U.S. airport checkpoints, according to the Transportation Security Administration.
Airlines close books on rotten 2020 and so far, 2021 is grim
An American Airlines Boeing 777 is framed by utility wires as it prepares to land at Miami International Airport, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021, in Miami. And now a halting rollout of vaccines threatens to further delay a recovery in travel and the travel industry. On Thursday, as airlines reported results, a new coronavirus variant identified in South Africa was found in the United States for the first time, with two cases diagnosed in South Carolina. โTravel restrictions on international have resulted in a reduction in demand,โ American Airlines CEO Doug Parker said. Ad___JETBLUE AIRWAYSJetBlue reported a loss of $381 million, after reporting a profit in the fourth quarter of 2019.
Southwest offering nonstop flights from Jacksonville to Washington D.C., St. Louis
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. โ Beginning March 11, Southwest Airlines will begin offering nonstop flights from Jacksonville International Airport to St. Louis Lambert International Airport (STL) and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. Daily flights to St. Louis will depart JAX at 1:35 p.m. EST and arrive at approximately 2:55 p.m. CST. Daily flights to JAX will depart Washington D.C. at 1:55 p.m. EST and arrive at 4:00 p.m. EST. Flights will depart JAX at 3:00 p.m. EST and arrive in Washington D.C. at 4:55 p.m. EST. Starting flight schedules to St. Louis and Washington D.C. will vary on Saturdays and arrival/departure times will change mid-April, according to a news release.
Southwest warns nearly 7,000 workers of possible furloughs
On Thursday, Dec. 3, 2020, the airline warned nearly 7,000 employees that they could lose their jobs unless labor unions accept concessions to help Southwest cope with a sharp drop in travel during the pandemic. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)DALLAS โ Southwest Airlines warned nearly 7,000 workers on Thursday that they could lose their jobs unless labor unions accept concessions to help the airline cope with a sharp drop in travel caused by the pandemic. The warnings went to 6,828 employees including more than 2,500 ground workers and 1,500 flight attendants represented by the Transport Workers Union and 1,221 pilots, who have their own union. Dallas-based Southwest, the nationโs fourth-biggest airline, boasts that it has never furloughed workers in its history dating back more than 50 years. Jon Weaks, president of the pilotsโ union, called the furlough notices โa sad milestoneโ in Southwest history.
Florida sees slight decrease in jobless claims as pandemic continues
The U.S. Department of Labor on Wednesday reported an estimated 23,982 first-time jobless applications in Florida during the week that ended Nov. 21, a decrease of 376 from the prior week. Ron DeSantis to issue a statewide mask mandate to address recent increases in COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. The federal estimate also followed the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity announcing Friday the stateโs unemployment rate for October was 6.5 percent, down from 7.2 percent in September. The decline in new unemployment claims comes as the state has seen an uptick in COVID-19 cases during the past month. Walt Disney Co. had earlier informed the state of about 18,000 layoffs occurring at Florida properties starting in December.
Southwest flight makes emergency landing in Jacksonville
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. โ A Southwest Airlines flight bound for Providence, Rhode Island, made an emergency landing Friday at Jacksonville International Airport over concerns about a mechanical issue, the airline said. Southwest flight 162 took off from Orlando International Airport shortly after 8 a.m., according to Flight Aware. The flight was diverted to Jacksonville after the pilot noticed an instrument reading in a gauge that monitors the aircraftโs backup hydraulics systems, a Southwest spokesman told News4Jax. The Boeing 737, which was carrying 23 passengers and five crew members, landed safely in Jacksonville about 9 a.m., so mechanics could inspect the aircraft, the spokesman said. Flight Aware shows the flight was scheduled to depart Jacksonville for Providence about 10:40 a.m.
As virus cases rise, Southwest sees slower travel recovery
DALLAS โ Southwest Airlines cautioned Thursday that the tenuous recovery in air travel could be fading as coronavirus cases spike across the United States. Airline stocks surged on Monday after Pfizer reported promising early results from a trial of a coronavirus vaccine. The report from Dallas-based Southwest added to fears that the spreading virus cases will hurt travel demand heading into Thanksgiving, a key period for airlines. It is unclear whether the weakening booking trends is directly related to the surge in virus cases. Airline stocks fell more sharply than broader market indexes.
JetBlue is the latest airline to retreat from blocking seats
The days of airlines blocking seats to make passengers feel safer about flying during the pandemic are coming closer to an end. A spokesman for the carrier said Thursday that JetBlue will reduce the number of seats it blocks after Dec. 1 to accommodate families traveling together over the holidays. Southwest Airlines said last week that it will stop limiting the number of seats it fills after Dec. 1. Some airlines promised to block middle seats to create more distance between passengers. Southwest CEO Gary Kelly made a similar reference to โscientific evidenceโ that cabins are safe, but he also cited a strong financial incentive to stop blocking middle seats.
US airlines still piling up losses but say demand is rising
Southwest Airlines on Thursday, Oct. 22, lost $1.16 billion in the normally strong third quarter, which includes most of the summer vacation season. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)DALLAS โ Airlines are piling up billions of dollars in additional losses as the pandemic chokes off air travel, but a recent uptick in passengers, however modest, has provided some hope. However, air travel in October is still down 65% from a year ago. The Seattle company said that removing one-time gains and costs, the loss came to $3.23 per share, which was wider than the $2.86 per share loss predicted by analysts. Earlier this month, Delta Air Lines posted a $5.4 billion loss and United Airlines lost $1.8 billion for the third quarter.
Pandemic air travel milestone; 1 million passengers screened
โ The number of passengers screened in a single day for flights in the U.S. topped one million for the first time since COVID-19 infections began to spike last March. The million plus passengers screened Sunday compares with 2.6 million on the same day last year, or roughly 60% fewer, according to the Transportation Security Administration. The TSA said that the 6.1 million passengers at U.S. checkpoints the week of Oct. 12 through Oct. 18 was the greatest volume measured since the start of the pandemic. With so little known about the virus, few wanted to board planes or walk through an airport even if they could. Airlines are now warning of mass layoffs while lobbying Congress and the White House for another $25 billion to pay workers for the next six months.