Southwest has first layoffs in corporate history — beyond overreaction and political spinning

After its first, and second, rounds of battling with Elliott Investment Management and its head vulture capitalist Paul Singer last year, it appears that Southwest Airlines is still facing some financial headwinds.

It just laid off nearly 2,000 people. As many people have noted on Shitter and elsewhere, it's never before done layoffs. Not even in COVID.

Now, those are all corporate staff, so airports won't be affected. It's about 15 percent of the head office people.

Meanwhile, at least one BlueAnon is already trying to make this about Trump, even while ignoring that Southworst offered buyouts in November. That, in turn, was caused by aircraft delivery delays from Boeing. Said person claimed that Trump's immigrant roundup would depress international tourism and non-tourism flights, not only ignoring the buyouts, but also ignoring that Southwest has a modest number of Mexican and Caribbean flights and otherwise doesn't fly outside the US.

Per that buyouts link, American also offered buyouts in November. Southwest, through attrition, had been cutting staff since late 2023. And, CEO Bob Jordan said then that he wasn't done reducing staff.

So, this is not "panic time" for Southwest, but it is a new day. 

(Update, March 13: What IS a REALLY new day is Southwest ending "bags fly free." My analysis and hot take is here.)

If it's panicky anywhere, it should be Boeing. 

American, as well as Southwest, has cited delayed deliveries from Boeing as one factor in decision-making, including on employment levels. Southwest added that it expects to take fewer Boeing deliveries this year. And, as I write this, I don't think Boeing has yey cleaned house — or mentalities — as much as it needs to over 737 MAX8 and related issues.

As for Southwest and Elliott? After the airline's current poison pill expires, I expect Paul Singer to be hanging ghoulishly outside the door again.

EDIT: Addendum because MAGAts — none of this is to say that Southwest is not worried about general travel headwinds becoming yet more adverse in the future because of Trump. (The first person who liked this on Shitter was one of them.)

 

A ‘green’ plane?

Bombardier claims it’s building one.

“The CSeries family offers the greenest single-aisle aircraft in its class,” said Gary Scott, president of Bombardier Commercial Aircraft.

“These game-changing aircraft emit up to 20 percent less CO2 (carbon dioxide)... fly four times quieter, and deliver dramatic energy savings,” he added in the statement.

Boeing claims this is a Bombardier claims time of opportunity to build such planes. Will it deliver?

Southwest could use its leverage to try to force Boeing to come out with a much greener version of the 737.

Not all American airlines may be around to benefit, though.

In the first story, Virgin Atlantic’s Richard Branson predicted that:

There will be “some spectacular casualties" in the airline industry. “One of the big American carriers will almost definitely go.”

Enviro roundup – Europe goes black while Boeing and Airbus go green

Europe looks to burn more coal

Italy’s top electric producer is switching from oil to coal at a major electric plant. The country as a whole expects to move from 14 to 33 percent on coal-fired electricity in just five years. And it won’t be alone in that time frame:

European countries are expected to put into operation about 50 coal-fired plants over the next five years.

European countries, just like our Preznit, are touting “clean coal.” But really, in terms of global warming, it’s just “mildly less dirty coal.”

“Building new coal-fired power plants is ill conceived,” said James E. Hansen, a leading climatologist at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies. “Given our knowledge about what needs to be done to stabilize climate, this plan is like barging into a war without having a plan for how it should be conducted, even though information is available. We need a moratorium on coal now, with phase-out of existing plants over the next two decades.”

Since most western European countries, with the highly visible exception of France, go nuclear about the idea of nuclear power, and renewables can’t address all the demand, it seems like it’s longer-lasting — and cheaper — but dirtier coal vs. oil or natural gas.

The European Union has pledged to build 12 carbon-capture coal plants, but given that infeasibilities, and not just energy-industry issues, led Bush to scrub the one pilot plant here, I seriously doubt that the EU will deliver the goods. The Enel plant referenced above says it will “experiment” with carbon capture by 2015, but that’s a ways off.

Give the plant credit for other environmental cred, though:

On many other fronts, the new Enel plant is a model of efficiency and recycling. The nitrous oxide is chemically altered to generate ammonia, which is then sold. The resulting coal ash and gypsum are sold to the cement industry.

An on-site desalination plant means that the operation generates its own water for cooling. Even the heated water that comes out of the plant is not wasted: it heats a fish farm, one of Italy’s largest.

Meanwhile, it appears Enel has nothing to learn from U.S. Big Coal:

(An environmental group) says that Enel has won approval for a dangerous new coal plant by buying machines for a local hospital and by carrying out a public relations campaign. Enel advertisements for the project show a young girl erasing a plant’s smokestack.

Pretty slick.

Boeing, Airbus look to cooperate

The world’s top two aircraft builders signed a cooperation deal to reduce air travel’s environmental impact.

And, by working for global interoperability in air traffic management, it may just declutter the runways at London Heathrow, JFK, LAX, etc. Beyond that, the two companies are looking at other areas of environmental cooperation.