Southwest cuts back on recruitment
Southwest Airlines is continuing on its cost-cutting journey with a pause on corporate hiring and promotions, and scrapping summer internships.
CEO Bob Jordan said some employee team-building events will be ditched to cut costs.
“Every single dollar matters as we continue to fight to return to excellent financial performance,” Jordan said in an internal communication.
He said more cuts will happen ‘when it makes sense.’
“We made a lot of progress in 2024 but we’re still far from our goal of returning to industry-leading profit margins,” Jordan wrote.
“A key risk in 2025 is acting as if the urgency has passed and therefore not sustaining the focus.”
“We’ll continue to evaluate hiring needs on an ongoing basis to determine when it makes sense for the business to resume hiring,” an airline spokesperson added.
Southwest has already made key operational changes such as ditching its decades long open seating process and cutting many underperforming routes.
It also announced it will start red eye flights to increase aircraft use efficiency.
Related News Stories: Southwest cuts back on recruitment Southwest Airlines Cuts Back On Hiring Under Pressure From Elliott ... Southwest to cut 15% of corporate jobs Anyone hear anything about Southwest cutting back on 2024 hiring ... Southwest Airlines makes new cuts to company spending to reduce ... Southwest Airlines cuts flying capacity, pauses hiring due to ongoing ... Southwest to cut nearly 1750 jobs | The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Southwest Airlines pauses corporate hiring, most summer ... Back on Track in Southwest Minnesota / Minnesota Department of ... Leslie Josephs on LinkedIn: Southwest Airlines to cut service and ...
TravelMole Editorial Team
Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
Vegas’s Billion-Dollar Secrets – What They Don’t Want Tourists to Know
Visit Florida’s New CEO Bryan Griffin Shares His Vision for State Tourism with Graham
Chicago’s Tourism Renaissance: Graham Interviews Kristin Reynolds of Choose Chicago
Graham Talks with Cassandra McCauley of MMGY NextFactor About the Latest Industry Research
Destination International’s Andreas Weissenborn: Research, Advocacy, and Destination Impact
Graham and Don Welsh Discuss the Success of Destinations International’s Annual Conference
Graham and CEO Andre Kiwitz on Ventura Travel’s UK Move and Recruitment for the Role
Brett Laiken and Graham Discuss Florida’s Tourism Momentum and Global Appeal
Graham and Elliot Ferguson on Positioning DC as a Cultural and Inclusive Global Destination
Graham Talks to Fraser Last About His England-to-Ireland Trek for Mental Health Awareness
Kathy Nelson Tells Graham About the Honour of Hosting the World Cup and Kansas City’s Future
Graham McKenzie on Sir Richie Richardson’s Dual Passion for Golf and His Homeland, Antigua
ADS PRO 
France prepares for a massive strike across all transports on September 18
Turkish tourism stalls due to soaring prices for accommodation and food
CCS Insight: eSIMs ready to take the travel world by storm
Germany new European Entry/Exit System limited to a single airport on October 12, 2025
Airlines suspend Madagascar services following unrest and army revolt