by Lacey Pfalz
Last updated: 10:45 AM ET, Fri April 25, 2025
Southwest Airlines’ first-quarter financial report spelled an unsatisfying start to the year, reporting a net loss of $149 million and omitting a full-year financial prediction.
Shareholders lost about $0.26 per diluted share this quarter, though operating revenues reached an all-time high of $6.4 billion. Passenger revenues were also up 1.7 percent from last year, totaling $5.8 billion.
Southwest has outstanding debt of $6.7 billion.
The airline also cut capacity by 1.9 percent during the first quarter, and is planning to reduce its capacity further during the second half of the year. While the routes to be cut haven’t yet been announced, the third and fourth quarter capacity will be cut 1-1.5 percent each.
"While the broader economic environment has been dynamic, we remain focused on executing our transformational plan,” said President, CEO and Vice Chairman Bob Jordan. “On costs, we beat our previously adjusted guidance and are on track to achieve the increased cost reduction plan targets announced last month. We ran a stellar operation in first quarter, leading the industry in on-time performance and improving on almost every operating metric, year-over-year.”
The airline expects second-quarter results to be anywhere from flat (which means no change) to -4 percent lower than last year. It is not providing financial guidance for the full year (along with many other domestic air carriers) or for 2026.
“Amid the current macroeconomic uncertainty, it is difficult to forecast given recent and short-lived booking trends,” said the financial report.
Other major airlines, including Delta, American Airlines and Alaska also omitted full-year guidance, with Delta’s CEO Ed Bastian going so far as to call Trump’s worsening trade war and the fears of recession it has caused “the wrong approach.”
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