Southwest to cut service and staffing in Atlanta to slash costs

Southwest Airlines is planning to reduce service to and from Atlanta next year, cutting more than 300 pilot and flight attendant positions, according to a company memo seen by CNBC.

The changes come a day before Southwest’s investor day, when executives will map out the company’s plan to cut costs and grow revenue as pressure mounts from activist investor Elliott Investment Management.

Southwest told staff it isn’t closing its crew base in Atlanta. Instead, it will reducing staffing by as many as 200 flight attendants and as many as 140 pilots, for the April 2025 bid month.

Southwest isn’t laying the crews off, but they will likely have to bid to work from other cities.

“Although we try everything we can before making difficult decisions like this one, we simply cannot afford continued losses and must make this change to help restore our profitability,” Southwest said in its memo. “This decision in no way reflects our Employees’ performance, and we’re proud of the Hospitality and the efforts they have made and will continue to make with our Customers in ATL.”

The airline’s COO told staff last week that it will have to make “difficult decisions” to boost profits.