Southwest Airlines Is Reporting RECORD Profits — But They Have a WARNING for Travelers

Flying is complicated right now, and if you’re not dealing with delays and cancellations, you’re probably dealing with high airfare costs.

Despite the challenges the airline industry is facing right now, one airline is reporting record profits — but they have a warning for future customers.

According to Click Orlando, Southwest Airlines just reported second-quarter revenue of $760 million, which is double their $338 million earnings this time last year. However, customers flying in the second half of 2022 could still see higher costs.

Southwest’s new Disney World 50th Anniversary airplane!

When it comes to costs, Southwest’s fuel spending has increased by more than $800 million from just a year ago, and wages and benefit costs rose by 21% to $400 million within the year. High numbers of canceled and delayed flights have also contributed to costs, and Southwest “expects non-fuel costs to rise by 12% to 15% per mile in the third quarter” of 2022.

Airlines have blamed staffing issues for some of the reasons behind canceled and delayed flights, but Southwest has been hiring staff to the extent that they reported near pre-pandemic levels of employees in May. They reported that they expect to add 10,000 jobs in 2022.

While Southwest Airlines CEO Robert Jordan expects the rest of 2022 to be “solidly profitable,” travelers can safely bet that airfare costs will continue to increase. That means you could be facing more expensive ticket prices as the year continues.

Southwest Airlines Disney World 50th Anniversary Plane

We recommend booking your flight as SOON as possible, even if your trip is months and months away, and at the very least it’s not a bad idea to increase your airfare budget or plan on driving, just to be safe.

Planning a trip anywhere (including Disney World) seems to require a lot more advance planning now, and we recommend checking out the following links to ensure that you’re FULLY prepared in all possible travel scenarios:

As usual, keep following AllEars for more travel news, tips, and more!