Southwest Airlines has had a lot to make up to its customers.
The airline faced a massive backlash after its holiday-season meltdown left tens of thousands of people stranded. Many of those customers also did not like the way the airline handled its problems or what it did to help the affected passengers reach their final destinations.
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In addition, Southwest faced labor unrest as it struggled to make a deal with the unions representing its pilots and its flight attendants. That has brought Southwest a lot of unwanted attention as its pilots' union has been very critical of the company.
In a recent open letter, the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association (called out management) -)
"How did we get here? How did we go from the most stable and profitable airline in history to the greatest meltdown in airline history? As with most organizations, the answer can be distilled down to one word: Leadership. Actually, in our case, it’s three words: Lack of leadership," the association said.
That's harsh, and the airline needs labor peace to guarantee it can serve its passengers going forward, but it has made some positive steps.
Southwest Airlines (LUV) -) has committed $1.3 billion to solve the underlying problems that caused its holiday meltdown, and it's coming off a nearly perfect 4th of July weekend in terms of on-time flights.
Now, the airline has an unusual sale designed to lock in customers for multiple flights -- but you have to act fast.
Image source: Tim Boyle/Getty Images
Southwest Airlines Offers a Double Deal
Southwest Air often offers sales where it's sort of hard to know exactly how much you're saving. Most people don't follow airline prices closely enough to know when a specific flight or route goes on sale.
The company's latest offer, however, is clearer because it offers people who participate a 50% savings on the fares those who don't participate will pay. To get the deal, however, you have to complete the first part of the transaction before the end of Aug. 3.
Southwest's deal offers customers 50% off select flights if they buy a full-price ticket. Here's how it works:
- Register, then buy a round trip (or two one-way flights) by 8/3/2023
- Travel by 9/30.
- Get a 50% off promo code valid 10/17-11/23 for travel 1/8-3/6/24. (Blackout dates apply).
It's a limited offer with some restrictions, but it's meaningful savings that the company's passengers should appreciate.
The airline has been busy, with many flights fully sold out, but this promotion suggests that the airline expects weaker sales in the months immediately following the holiday season.
Southwest Air Had a Record-Revenue Quarter
Southwest appears to have recovered from its problems. The company delivered a record $7 billion in revenue during the second quarter. It was also profitable, according to remarks from Chief Executive Bob Jordan during the company's Q2-earnings call.
"We continue to expect $1 billion to $1.5 billion of pretax profit contribution in full-year 2023 for our strategic initiatives that we outlined at our investor day last December," he said.
"Based on our current outlook, we continue to expect record operating revenue and solid profits in third-quarter 2023 and year-over-year margin expansion for full-year 2023."
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Jordan also noted that the airline appears to have fixed many of its problems:
"I especially want to thank our people for doing such a fantastic job. They helped us get a record number of customers and a record number of bags on a record number of flights successfully to their destinations, as we experienced the lowest second quarter flight cancellation rate in the past 10 years."
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