Southwest plans to cancel flights in Atlanta and add new flights elsewhere. Unions are unhappy

DALLAS (AP) — Southwest Airlines (LUV) plans to cut about a third of its flights to Atlanta next year to save money as the airline faces pressure from a hedge fund to boost profits and boost the airline’s stock price.

The withdrawal from Atlanta, where Southwest is significantly smaller than Delta Air Lines, will result in over 300 jobs for pilots and flight attendants being eliminated, according to the company, although they will have the opportunity to transfer to another location.

“We continue to optimize our network to meet customer demand, optimize our fleet utilization and maximize our revenue opportunities,” a Southwest spokesman said Wednesday.

Southwest executives are expected to detail additional planned changes at an investor conference on Thursday, a response to Elliott Investment Management’s campaign to overhaul Southwest’s leadership and reverse the earnings slide of the past three years.

Southwest will cancel 58 flights a day and reduce its presence at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport from 18 to 11 gates, the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association said. The news is painful for employees based in Atlanta.

“It is simply unbelievable that the airline with the strongest network in the history of our industry is now withdrawing from a key market because of the failure of this leadership group to evolve and innovate,” the union said in a memo to pilots.

Bill Bernal, president of the local Transport Workers Union that represents Southwest flight attendants, said his union was outraged by the Atlanta job cuts. He said Southwest has assured the union that it will grow in Atlanta.

“This is pure gaslighting,” Bernal said in a memo to union members. “Once again, flight attendants are paying the price for poor management decisions.”

The Southwest spokesman said: “Decisions like this are difficult for our company because they impact our employees, but we have been making sure they are taken into account for over 53 years.”

As Southwest pulls out of Atlanta, the company on Wednesday released its schedule through next June, which includes new service between Nashville and six other cities, as well as five new overnight flights from Hawaii to Las Vegas and Phoenix. Those additions will take effect in April.

Earlier this year, Southwest withdrew from four smaller markets and announced a hiring cut in response to weaker financial results and delays in the delivery of new aircraft from Boeing.

Most notably, CEO Robert Jordan announced in July that the airline would begin assigning seats to passengers and reserving nearly a third of its seats for premium services with more legroom.