Southwest is scaling back corporate hiring and most internships, CEO Bob Jordan announced in an internal memo seen by CNBC. “Every single dollar matters,” Jordan said.
The airline will suspend nonunion hiring and promotions. Most summer internship offers will also be paused, he said in the memo on Monday.
“You’ll begin to see and feel efforts related to our cost initiative in the coming weeks, including some hard decisions I’ve had to make,” Jordan added.
These moves, he said, are part of a broader cost-cutting initiative to help the airline become a more “lean, efficient and agile company.”
Another cut will be the suspension of the Dallas-based airline’s employee “rallies,” a tradition dating back 40 years. The 2025 events were to take place in Dallas and Phoenix.
During these events, employees hear directly from leadership on company goals for the year.
Last week, two high-ranking Southwest executives outlined plans to retire later this year, including CFO Tammy Romo and Linda Rutherford, the airline’s administrative chief. Both leaders had over three decades of experience at the airline.
