Southwest Airlines on Monday announced it will cut 1,750 jobs in late April in what will be the first round of layoffs in the company’s 53-year history.
“As we continue to work together to transform our Company, an area of intense focus will be maximizing efficiencies and minimizing costs,” Bob Jordan, president and CEO of Southwest Airlines wrote in a Monday memo to workers. “We must ensure we fund the right work, reduce duplicative efforts, and have a lean organizational structure that drives clarity, pace, and urgency.”
“Improving how we work together and how we get work done has a tremendous impact on our efficiency as a Company and how we deliver against our plan,” he added.
The airline said it would cut 15 percent of corporate positions including 11 senior leadership positions — vice president level and above — as part of this restructuring.
Impacted employees are expected to receive severance pay and will not work after notification of their displacement prior to April but continue to receive their salary, benefits and bonus, if eligible, per the company.
As a result of this workforce reduction, Soutwest estimates partial year 2025 savings to be approximately $210 million and full-year 2026 savings to be approximately $300 million according to a separate Monday release.
