Southwest plans to cut routes in Atlanta by a third and reduce staff

The low-cost airline plans to cut more than 300 pilot and flight attendant positions at Hartsfield-Jackson early next year, but not its crew base in Atlanta. CNBC was the first to report on the cuts.

The changes will affect around 200 flight attendants and up to 140 pilots. These are not layoffs, but the affected employees will apply for routes in other cities.

Southwest announced that there will be 381 departures per week from Atlanta by March next year, a third less than the current 567.

“While we try everything we can before making difficult decisions like this, we simply cannot afford continued losses and must make this change to restore our profitability,” Southwest said in a memo to employees obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “This decision in no way reflects the performance of our employees and we are proud of the hospitality and efforts they have provided and will continue to provide for our customers in (Atlanta).”

The Transport Workers Union of America Local 556, the union that represents Southwest flight attendants, expressed its outrage.

Alison Head, a Southwest flight attendant who represents the Atlanta location on the board of the Transport Workers Union, said the more than 800 flight attendants based in Hartsfield-Jackson will be able to keep their jobs but will be based in other cities, which will mean significant disruption for those workers.

“Flight attendants are disappointed with management and poor management decisions and are ultimately paying the price for those poor decisions,” Head said in an interview. The cuts will have “ripple effects across all of our locations.”

The move would “uproot families” and likely cause some long-time workers to choose to leave, she said.

The service cuts mean Southwest will need fewer crew members in Atlanta, although the airline said it will increase its service in other cities, including Nashville, Tennessee.

“We continue to optimize our network to meet customer demand, optimize our fleet utilization and maximize our revenue opportunities,” Southwest spokesman Chris Perry said in an email. “Decisions like this are difficult for our company because of the impact on our employees, but we have been taking care of them for over 53 years.”

In April, the AJC reported that Southwest plans to reduce flights to and from Atlanta and withdraw from some other airports as operations come under pressure from delays in the delivery of Boeing aircraft.

Southwest has an all-Boeing fleet of 737 aircraft. Delays and other problems with the MAX series have put pressure on Southwest's fleet planning.

The airline has also been under pressure from shareholders to improve its performance, with activist investor Elliott Investment Management pushing for the ouster of Southwest CEO Bob Jordan.

In April, Southwest operated up to 119 departures per day from Atlanta, and the company said that number would drop to a maximum of 94 departures daily from Atlanta on weekdays in the airline's revised summer schedule, airline spokesman Dan Landson said at the time.

Head said Southwest currently operates about 80 flights a day and that with the new changes, that number will drop to fewer than 60 a day.

It is unclear what impact the service restrictions will have on ground staff.

Bill Bernal, president of the Transport Workers Union of America Local 556, said in a statement: “Management continues to make decisions that lack complete transparency and adequate communication with union leadership. And, most alarmingly, it lacks the focus that made the airline great: its employees.”

According to Perry, the airline is permanently eliminating service between Hartsfield-Jackson and Cleveland; Greenville, South Carolina; Jackson, Mississippi; Memphis, Tennessee; Miami; Fort Myers and Sarasota, Florida; Milwaukee; Oklahoma City; Omaha, Nebraska; Philadelphia; Richmond, Virginia; and Louisville, Kentucky. Only two flights per week will be offered to Fort Lauderdale and Jacksonville, Florida.

In a statement, Hartsfield-Jackson said it was “fully prepared to address any challenges arising from the changes at Southwest Airlines. As a top airline destination, ATL remains in high demand. We will continue to provide world-class service and efficiency to all of our passengers and stakeholders.”