Southwest Airlines Vows to Return to Recovery Plan by March After Meltdown
Photo Credit: Southwest CEO Bob Jordan is confident another meltdown won't happen. Skift
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After disrupting the trips of more than 2 million travelers, yes, as in the equivalent of Kansas City metro, Southwest says it's back to plan by March.
Two months. That’s how long Southwest Airlines expects there to be an impact on bookings from its massive holiday meltdown that disrupted millions of travelers over Christmas and New Years.
The Dallas-based carrier forecasts a $300-350 million hit to revenues as a result of the meltdown in January and February, it disclosed in its fourth-quarter results Thursday. That is on top of the roughly $800 million hit it took in December. But, by March, executives are confident that the fallout — at least on its earnings statement — will be fully behind it.
“I think we’re going to be very pleased with the [financial performance in the month of March,” Southwest Chief Commercial Officer said during the airline’s earnings call Thursday. “It feels like we’re, kind of, back on plan.”
That’s pretty remarkable considering the magnitude of the disruption that began on December 21 and continued through New Years Eve. Southwest canceled more than 1
