Southwest Slashes Flights, Cuts Jobs in Atlanta

Southwest is shaking up its route network yet again, this time in Atlanta. As first reported by CNBC, the airline plans to reduce its presence at the world’s busiest airport and Delta fortress hub from 18 to 11 gates next year.

In addition, the Dallas-based carrier will reduce staffing at its Atlanta crew base. Approximately 140 pilots and 200 flight attendants could be displaced to other bases by April 2025, an internal memo viewed by CNBC said.

A relic of the 2011 merger with AirTran Airways, Southwest has continued to maintain a base in Atlanta with over 100 daily departures. In April, the airline announced plans to scale back its operations in the city to 94 departures per day.

“Although we try everything we can before making difficult decisions like this one, we simply cannot afford continued losses and must make this change to help restore our profitability,” the carrier said as part of the memo.

Airline network insider Enilria noted that routes to Cleveland; Jacksonville, Florida; Louisville, Kentucky; and Miami, among others, are likely impacted by the schedule reduction. Southwest may reduce its schedule in Atlanta to just 40 daily flights.

Other Schedule Changes

In its latest schedule iteration, the airline is adding four routes from Nashville, Tennessee, including Albuquerque, New Mexico; Albany, New York; Jackson, Mississippi; Memphis, Tennessee; Providence, Rhode Island; and Tulsa, Oklahoma. Southwest will also add red-eye flights from Hawaii to Las Vegas and Phoenix.

The airline is set to host its Investor Day in Dallas on Thursday.

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Ryan Ewing

Ryan founded AirlineGeeks.com back in February 2013 and has amassed considerable experience in the aviation sector. His work has been featured in several publications and news outlets, including CNN, WJLA, CNET, and Business Insider. During his time in the industry, he's worked in roles pertaining to airport/airline operations while holding a B.S. in Air Transportation Management from Arizona State University along with an MBA. Ryan has experience in several facets of the industry from behind the yoke of a Cessna 172 to interviewing airline industry executives. Ryan works for AirlineGeeks' owner FLYING Media, spearheading coverage in the commercial aviation space.

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