Southwest says flights are more full and fares are rising
Southwest Airlines said Wednesday that bookings are improving and leisure-travel fares for June are approaching pre-pandemic levels, further signs that the airline industry is recovering from a deep slump.
The Dallas-based airline said the average April flight was 79% full, and it expects June flights to be 85% full. Southwest said it has sold 55% of the seats it expects to fill in June and 35% for July, which it called “fairly typical” booking patterns.
Southwest said in a regulatory filing that demand is still being driven mostly by leisure travelers. It said bookings by business travelers are ticking modestly higher but remain down about 80% from 2019 levels.
Southwest said operating revenue in April was 42% below April 2019. It forecast that the revenue decline compared with two years ago will narrow to between 20% and 25% by June.
The airline said it cut its “core” cash-burn rate to $6 million a day in April and now expects to lose between $1 million and $3 million a day in the April-through-June quarter. That is $1 million better than a previous forecast. It expects to reach break-even in June, excluding debt service, capital spending and some other costs.
The shares were down 2% in early trading about an hour before Wednesday’s regular session.
US air travel rises to highest levels yet since pandemic hit
© 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Citation:
Southwest says flights are more full and fares are rising (2021, May 19)
retrieved 20 May 2021
from https://techxplore.com/news/2021-05-southwest-flights-full-fares.html
This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no
part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.
Stay connected with us on social media platform for instant update click here to join our Twitter, & Facebook
We are now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@TechiUpdate) and stay updated with the latest Technology headlines.
For all the latest Technology News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.