Southwest Airlines has closed out the summer with a very strong operational performance. The Dallas based carrier reported zero cancellations on Labor Day, marking the exclamation point on what was an extremely reliable operation this summer.
Overall, the airline flew more than 54 million passengers during the summer travel period (Friday, May 24th through Monday, September 2nd). The carrier’s on-time performance improved by two percentage points compared to 2023 and they had an overall completion factor of 99.3%.
On the final travel weekend of the summer (Friday, August 30th through Monday, September 2nd) the carrier achieved a 99.9 percent completion factor on almost 15,000 flights to lead the industry in domestic flight completion.
Bob Jordan, President, CEO & Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors at Southwest Airlines, had this to say about the carrier’s operational performance this summer:
“I’m so proud of our Employees for staying focused on Safety and running a great operation this Labor Day, and all summer long. It’s further evidence of the progress we’re making. We are pleased with the operational results and pleased with the travel demand we continue to see in the third quarter, thus far.”
The strong performance comes as Southwest’s leadership is currently under attack from an activist investor. Elliott Investment Management L.P. took a $1.9 billion position in the Dallas based carrier, representing roughly 11% of the airlines outstanding shares, making them one of the largest investors in the company.
As part of their proposed “Stronger Southwest” plan, they want the carrier to undergo a comprehensive business review to “evaluate all available opportunities to rapidly restore the Company’s performance to best-in-class standards”. Coming out of the busy summer travel season, you could say that the pressure is working.
You can also make the argument that Southwest is doing just fine without adding Elliott representatives to its board. The airline is adding assigned seating and will operate redeye flights to better utilize its aircraft.
Strong Operational Performance Comes Amid a Chaotic Summer for Airlines
Southwest’s strong operational performance comes amid a chaotic summer for airlines that include a crippling CrowdStrike outage that took down airlines and airport systems around the world. Fortunately for Southwest, they weren’t heavily impacted and avoided the operational meltdown that plagued Delta for days.
Southwest did run into a few hiccups this summer including four runway closures in three months at its Houston-Hobby (HOU) focus city. However, for the most part, the airline performed flawlessly during an extremely busy summer of travel.
Overall, it was a great summer for Southwest passengers from an operational perspective. Let’s hope that they can keep it going as we transition into the fall and winter.
Summary
Southwest Airlines closed the summer travel season with an extremely strong operational performance. The carrier had an overall completion factor of 99.3% and closed the summer strong with no cancellations on Labor Day. Southwest needed a summer like this as the airline is facing pressure from an activist investor and prior operational meltdowns are still fresh in passengers’ minds.
