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☆ Southwest Airlines Gears Up for a Normal Flight Schedule on Friday After Mass Cancellations
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Alison Sider | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Southwest Airlines Co. executives said the airline is gearing up to resume its full flying schedule on Friday, removing limits on ticket sales and rebuilding crew schedules after an operational meltdown led it to cancel thousands of flights over the past week. Executives also pledged to continue work to update technology systems that company and labor officials have blamed for exacerbating Southwest’s troubles, leaving scheduling systems jammed and crews dispersed as the airline struggled to rebound from a winter storm.

☆ Southwest Promises to Reimburse Customers Affected by Meltdown
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Allison Pohle | Jacob Passy | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Southwest Airlines Co. said it would reimburse customers for many types of reasonable expenses they have taken on after the airline canceled close to 16,000 flights since last Thursday, leaving people stranded across the country. Southwest has canceled another 2,363 flights Thursday thus far, according to data from FlightAware. The company said it would restart regular flights Friday after flying a reduced schedule over the past few days.

☆ How Southwest Airlines Melted Down
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Alison Sider | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

When Southwest Airlines Co. reassigns crews after flight disruptions, it typically relies on a system called SkySolver. This Christmas, SkySolver not only didn’t solve much, it also helped create the worst industry meltdown in recent memory. Airline executives and labor leaders point to inadequate technology systems, in particular SkySolver, as one reason why a brutal winter storm turned into a debacle. SkySolver was overwhelmed by the scale of the task of sorting out which pilots and flight attendants could work which flights, Southwest executives said. Crew schedulers instead had to comb through records by hand.

Travelers at Baltimore Washington International airport deal with the impact of Southwest Airlines canceling more than 12,000 flights around the Christmas holiday weekend across the country and in Baltimore, Maryland, December 27, 2022. Southwest Airlines confirmed on Thursday that it expects to run a normal schedule on Friday after the carrier's systemwide meltdown stranded hundreds of thousands of customers over the Christmas holiday week and drew scrutiny from Washington. Southwest's operation unraveled over the holiday week after brutal winter weather swept across the U.S. "We have much work ahead of us, including investing in new solutions to manage wide-scale disruptions," Southwest said in its statement. Some competitors said they would cap fares for certain cities to help stranded Southwest passengers reach their destinations without surging prices, but fare searches on Thursday still returned some flights for $600 or more.

☆ Airlines Cap Fares as Southwest Cancellations Continue
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Dean Seal | Will Feuer | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Rival airlines have capped fares in some cities in response to an influx of last-minute bookings made after Southwest Airlines Co. scrapped thousands of flights during the past week. Southwest canceled more than 2,500 flights, or 62% of its scheduled departures, on Wednesday, according to data from FlightAware. Chief Executive Bob Jordan said Tuesday that the company plans to run a reduced schedule for the next few days as the airline repositions its staff and planes. The carrier has canceled close to 11,000 flights from Thursday through Tuesday as it has struggled to stabilize operations hampered amid the wintry weather.

☆ Southwest CEO Says Airline Is Trying to ‘End This Rolling Struggle’
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Jacob Passy | Alison Sider | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Southwest Airlines Co. on Tuesday said it would limit new bookings on the planes it plans to fly in the coming days, and the airline came under more scrutiny from Washington for its holiday storm meltdown. Southwest canceled 2,677 flights, or 65% of its scheduled Tuesday departures, according to data from FlightAware. The airline said Monday its reduced schedule would extend at least until Thursday. The carrier has canceled close to 11,000 flights since last Thursday as it has struggled to stabilize operations hampered amid the wintry weather.

☆ For Southwest Fliers, a Swelling Baggage Claim and Still No Way to Get Home
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Dawn Gilbertson | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

PHOENIX—Carol and Joseph Lepich were blissfully unaware of Southwest Airlines Co.’s holiday meltdown when they woke up Tuesday morning. The Sacramento retirees tried to check in for their flight on the Southwest app and found out it was canceled. They then drove to Sky Harbor International Airport to rebook their flight.

☆ Southwest Airlines Fliers Contend With Lost Luggage Along With Lost Flights
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Jacob Passy | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Southwest Airlines Co. on Tuesday said it would limit new bookings on the planes it plans to fly in the coming days, and the airline came under more scrutiny from Washington for its holiday storm meltdown. Southwest canceled 2,595 flights, or 63% of its scheduled Tuesday departures, according to data from FlightAware. The airline said Monday its reduced schedule would extend at least until Thursday. The carrier has canceled close to 11,000 flights since last Thursday as it has struggled to stabilize operations hampered amid the bad weather.

Apple Inc (AAPL.O) and Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) advanced over 0.6% each as U.S. 10-year Treasury yields slipped to 3.83% from 3.86% on Tuesday . Among the major S&P 500 sectors, technology (.SPLRCT) and consumer discretionary (.SPLRCD) gained nearly 0.5% and 1% respectively, while healthcare shares (.SPXHC) also were a major boost to the benchmark index. Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) rose 5.3%, after hitting its lowest level in more than two years in the previous session over demand worries in China. Energy stocks (.SPNY) bucked the trend as oil prices slipped on concerns about a surge in COVID-19 cases in top oil importer China. The benchmark S&P 500 (.SPX) is down 19% year-to-date and set for its biggest annual loss since the financial crisis of 2008.

☆ Futures edge higher as investors assess China reopening
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SummarySummary Companies Futures up: Dow 0.25%, S&P 0.19%, Nasdaq 0.14%Dec 28 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures edged higher on Wednesday as investors weighed the unwinding of pandemic restrictions by China against surging COVID cases in the world's second largest economy. "If the Chinese reopening story is positive for oil and commodity prices, it's bad news for global inflation," said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank. "The surge in Chinese demand will certainly boost inflation through higher energy and commodity prices and in response to higher inflation, the central banks will continue hiking rates." ET, Dow e-minis were up 84 points, or 0.25%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 7.25 points, or 0.19%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 15.75 points, or 0.14%. They hit their lowest level in more than two years in the previous session over demand worries in China.

☆ Southwest Airlines Fliers Contend With Lost Luggage Along With Canceled Flights
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Jacob Passy | Alison Sider | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

☆ Southwest cancels thousands more U.S. flights
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Dec 27 (Reuters) - Southwest Airlines Co (LUV.N) led U.S. airline cancellations on Tuesday as the low-cost carrier struggled to recover from harsh winter weather that has wrecked holiday plans for many. An arctic blast and a massive winter storm dubbed Elliott swept over much of the United States in the lead-up to the Christmas holiday weekend, forcing Southwest to scrap more than 12,000 flights since Friday. "The other airlines likely had manageable cancellations and delays, and actually appear to have recovered (in time to get everyone home)." Southwest said on Monday it had decided to continue operating a reduced schedule by flying roughly one third of its schedule "for the next several days." In total, U.S. airlines have canceled more than 5,000 flights for Tuesday and Wednesday, as of Tuesday morning.

U.S.-listed shares of Chinese firms such as JD.Com Inc , Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and Pinduoduo Inc (PDD.O) climbed around 2% each in premarket trading. With a handful of trading sessions left this year, investors are hoping for a so-called "Santa rally" at the end of what has been a largely disappointing month for U.S. equities. Economic data so far has offered little hope that the Fed could hit the brakes on its interest rate hikes. ET, Dow e-minis were up 147 points, or 0.44%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 12.5 points, or 0.32%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 5 points, or 0.05%. Reporting by Amruta Khandekar and Ankika Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi and Sriraj KalluvilaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Futures climb as China eases COVID curbs
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SummarySummary Companies Futures up: Dow 0.62%, S&P 0.65%, Nasdaq 0.56%Dec 27 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures rose on Tuesday after China further relaxed its COVID-19 curbs, fuelling hopes of a recovery in the world's second largest economy. U.S.-listed shares of Chinese firms such as JD.Com Inc , Alibaba Group Holding , Pinduoduo Inc (PDD.O) climbed between 2.5% and 3% in premarket trading. ET, Dow e-minis were up 208 points, or 0.62%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 25 points, or 0.65%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 62.5 points, or 0.56%. Southwest Airlines Co (LUV.N) dipped 3% after facing flight cancellations and delays a day after Christmas. Reporting by Amruta Khandekar Editing by Vinay DwivediOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Southwest Airlines CEO Says More Cancellations Ahead as Airline Tries to Recover
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( Alison Sider | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Southwest Airlines Co. canceled more than two-thirds of its flights Monday and plans to slash its schedules Tuesday and Wednesday, in a meltdown that stranded thousands of customers and that worsened while other airlines began to recover from the holiday winter storm. “We had a tough day today. In all likelihood we’ll have another tough day tomorrow as we work our way out of this,” Chief Executive Bob Jordan said in an interview Monday evening. “This is the largest scale event that I’ve ever seen.”

☆ Southwest Airlines Cancels About Two-Thirds of Flights as Woes Spiral
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( Alison Sider | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Southwest Airlines Co. canceled about two-thirds of its flights Monday, in a meltdown that stranded thousands of customers and that worsened while other airlines began to recover from the holiday winter storm. Southwest’s more than 2,700 scrapped flights Monday, the highest of any major U.S. airline, came as the Dallas-based airline proved unable to stabilize its operations and stem its problems after canceling thousands of flights over the Christmas weekend.

☆ Southwest’s Troubles Mount as Airline Scraps More Than Half of Its Flights
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( Alison Sider | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Travelers in Denver waiting to check in for Southwest Airlines flights affected by brutally cold temperatures Thursday into Friday. Southwest Airlines Co.’s operations were in disarray Monday after a brutal weekend in which many airlines struggled, but Southwest’s woes stood out. The budget-travel pioneer on Monday scrapped about 60% of its schedule, or more than 2,500 flights, after Southwest on Christmas Day canceled about 46% of its flights, according to FlightAware.

☆ Southwest’s Troubles Mount as Airline Scraps More Than Half Its Flights
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( Alison Sider | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Travelers in Denver waiting to check-in for Southwest Airlines flights affected by brutally cold temperatures Thursday into Friday. Southwest Airlines Co.’s operations were in disarray Monday after a brutal weekend in which many airlines struggled but Southwest’s woes stood out. The budget-travel pioneer by midday Monday scrapped about 60% of its schedule, or more than 2,500 flights, after Southwest on Christmas Day canceled about 46% of its flights, according to FlightAware.

☆ At Southwest Airlines, the Winter Storm Unleashed a Cascade of Problems
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-24 | by ( Alison Sider | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Among the major airlines in the U.S., Southwest Airlines Co., which canceled over 30% of its flights Friday, was one of the hardest hit by the punishing storm that brought snow, wind and subfreezing temperatures to much of the U.S. this week. Lee Kinnebrew , Southwest’s vice president of flight operations, told employees in a message Friday evening that Southwest had faced an onslaught of unexpected weather-related challenges that deepened the storm’s impact and made it harder to put its operations back on track.

☆ FAA Survey Finds Concerns Persist About Office Overseeing Southwest Airlines
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( Andrew Tangel | Alison Sider | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

About three-quarters of the survey respondents said the culture in the FAA’s Dallas-area office that oversees Southwest hasn’t improved. An internal Federal Aviation Administration survey found concerns among some inspectors about the agency’s approach to overseeing Southwest Airlines Co., according to documents viewed by The Wall Street Journal. About three-quarters of respondents said the culture in the FAA’s Dallas-area office that oversees Southwest hasn’t improved in recent years, after concerns had been raised regarding its oversight of the airline, according to an internal November survey report. Some respondents questioned the office’s commitment to safety, the documents showed.

Chief Executive Officer Bob Jordan said the reinstatement reflects "the strong return in demand for air travel" as well as Southwest's "solid" operating and financial performance since March. While mounting economic worries have clouded the outlook for consumer spending, the Dallas-based carrier said it has seen no signs of a slowdown in travel demand. It expects strong leisure revenue trends to continue into the first quarter of next year. Southwest will pay a quarterly dividend of 18 cents per share to shareholders on Jan. 31. "With more than two-thirds of its labor contracts still open,...reinstating dividends just illustrates how far Southwest has veered from its path," said Southwest Airlines Pilots Association President Casey Murray.

☆ Southwest to Resume Quarterly Dividend Payment After More Than Two Years
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Alison Sider | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Southwest will pay stockholders a dividend at the same rate it did before the pandemic. Southwest Airlines Co. is reinstating its quarterly dividend after more than two years as the airline says it is confident that the travel recovery will continue next year. Southwest suspended the payment early in the Covid-19 pandemic, when carriers were bleeding cash and weren’t sure when travelers would return. The government barred airlines from paying dividends or buying back shares under the terms of the $54 billion in federal aid it doled out to help avert mass layoffs in the industry. The restrictions expired this past fall.

☆ Southwest Airlines reinstates quarterly dividend
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Dec 7 (Reuters) - Southwest Airlines Co (LUV.N) on Wednesday reinstated its quarterly dividend program more than two years after suspending it in wake of the coronavirus pandemic, as demand for travel shows no signs of easing despite an economic slowdown. The company declared a third-quarter cash dividend of 18 cents per share. "Our fourth-quarter 2022 outlook remains strong, and we have a solid plan for 2023," Chief Executive Officer Bob Jordan said in a statement. The quarterly dividend will be paid on Jan. 31, Southwest added. Reporting by Priyamvada C in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-PhillipsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ After a slow start, the 2022 hurricane season roared in with memorable and destructive storms
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Jennifer Gray | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —As the hurricane season closes, a handful of blockbuster storms made history after an eerily quiet first half of the season gave false hope. In fact, we didn’t have any named storms from July 3 to August 31, the first time that’s occurred since 1941. One of those storms was Hurricane Ian, which hit land in late September and will go down as the most memorable storm of the 2022 season. “Tropical storms have formed in every month outside of hurricane season, and there have been a few hurricanes, too,” NOAA said. Historically, we’ve seen at least 15 named storms form in the month of December, even all the way up to December 30.

☆ Boeing, Southwest defeat class actions over 737 MAX safety
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Jonathan Stempel | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Nov 21 (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Monday threw out class-action lawsuits accusing Boeing Co and Southwest Airlines Co (LUV.N) of covering up a fatal flaw in the design of the Boeing 737 MAX 8 plane, and ordered that the litigation be dismissed. Boeing and Southwest did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The 737 MAX was grounded worldwide after 346 people died in the October 2018 crash of Lion Air Flight 610 in Indonesia and March 2019 crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 in Ethiopia. Passengers accused Southwest, Boeing's launch customer for the MAX 8, of pressuring Boeing into deceiving Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) officials during the testing and certification process, ostensibly to lower pilot training costs. In January 2021, Boeing agreed to pay $2.5 billion to resolve a U.S. Department of Justice criminal probe into the 737 MAX crashes.

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