Southwest posts 1st quarterly loss in almost a decade

DALLAS (AP) — Southwest Airlines posted its first quarterly loss in nearly a decade and said Tuesday that the downturn in air travel that began in late February shows no signs of letting up.

The airline said trip cancellations have pulled back from a peak in March but remain at levels that Southwest has never seen, as customers scrap plans to travel during the coronavirus pandemic.

Southwest doesn’t fly to Asia, where the virus originated, and so it felt the effects of the pandemic later than rivals Delta, United and American. However, with U.S. air travel now down about 95% from a year ago, all the carriers are flying through the same storm.

Southwest expects revenue to drop by 90% to 95% in April and May compared with a year ago, with only 5% to 10% of seats on its planes filled.

“This is an unprecedented time for our nation and the airline industry,” Chairman and CEO Gary Kelly said in a written statement. “The U.S. economy has been at a standstill, and the current outlook for second quarter 2020 indicates no material improvement in air travel trends.”

Airlines for America, a trade group for the leading U.S. carriers, said that last week the average domestic flight had about 12 passengers — although passengers have complained about being trapped on crowded planes with most other people not wearing face masks. Airlines are starting to think about how to make passengers feel safe when the number of flyers rises, maybe this summer.

“We will have social distancing at the airports and on the airplanes," Kelly told CNBC. “We won’t book the airplane full, so I think you can assume that all the middle seats would be open.”

Southwest and other airlines say they encourage passengers to wear masks. JetBlue said late Monday that it will be the first airline to require masks, beginning next week....