Southwest says pilot shortage is suppressing growth: Travel Weekly

Southwest Airlines has high demand but a pilot shortage and aircraft delivery delays.

Andrew Watterson, the company's chief commercial officer, said during the company's third-quarter earnings call that demand and supply will not be as aligned as before.

The carrier expects flight levels to return to pre-pandemic levels by the summer of next year.

Southwest's most immediate growth restraint remains a shortage of pilots, though the carrier is on track to meet its target of 1,200 pilot hires this year and 2,100 pilot hires next year.

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There are delays in the delivery of aircraft. Due to delays in Boeing's supply chain and slower-than- expected certification for the smallest Max variant, Southwest will only get 66 to 68 of the 114 planes they were contracted to take.

Southwest expects to fly 2% less in the fourth quarter than it did in the third quarter.

Southwest expects to fly more capacity in the second quarter of 2020 than it did a year ago.

Southwest will need to be bigger than it was before the Covid-19 crisis changed the airline industry. During the first year and a half of the Pandemic, the carrier pivoted away from high-density business routes. 125 planes are used to serve those destinations.

In Southwest's pre-pandemic markets, the frequencies are at 85%.

The frequencies on Southwest's longer city pairs are still down. The airline decided to allocate proportionally more flying to short-haul routes over the summer due to the fact that it is easier to recover from a difficult day when the schedule is more loaded with short flights. Southwest's average flight was shorter in the third quarter compared to a year ago.

Watterson said that the changes restored operational reliability. Southwest is on time 79.9% of the time so far this month. The cancellation rate and on-time rate improved from July.

The carrier reported net income of $277 million in the third quarter. Southwest achieved a record Q3 revenue of $6.2 billion, in line with analyst expectations. The revenue was offset by higher labor costs and a spike in jet fuel prices.