Southwest Airlines will end service at Newark Liberty International airport on 3 November in response to constraints created by the grounding of the Boeing 737 Max, the airline says on 25 July.
Southwest will consolidate its New York operations at LaGuardia airport. The airline has also removed the 737 Max from its schedules for another two months, to 5 January 2020.
Southwest says the Max grounding will cause its 2019 capacity to decline 1-2% year-on-year. The airline had hoped to grow capacity nearly 5% this year.
«As such, we are taking necessary steps to mitigate damages and optimise our aircraft and resources,» chief executive Gary Kelly says in a media release. «We will cease operations at Newark Liberty International airport and consolidate our New York City presence at New York LaGuardia Airport, effective November 3, 2019.»
«The financial results at Newark have been below expectations, despite the efforts of our excellent team at Newark,» Kelly adds.
The airline will give Newark employees the option to transfer to other locations. The Max grounding reduced Southwest’s second quarter operating income by $175 million. Southwest earned a net second quarter profit of $741 million, up about 1% year-on-year.
The decision to remove the 737 Max from schedules through 5 January follows «our most-recent guidance from Boeing», Southwest says…
