The recent cuts do not affect Southwest Airlines’ operations at BWI Marshall Airport, where it is the dominant carrier.
Dallas-based Southwest Airlines is closing two crew bases in Austin, Texas, and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, as part of the airline’s latest cuts.
Southwest also plans to make the first involuntary layoffs in its 53-year history.
The recent cuts do not affect Southwest Airlines’ operations at BWI Marshall Airport, where it is the dominant carrier. BWI Marshall is Southwest’s largest east coast hub. The airline has more than 5,200 employees based in the D.C. area.
Southwest also recently opened its first maintenance facility in the Northeast at BWI Marshall, a 27-acre facility that includes a maintenance hangar and office space.
Southwest Airlines is making cuts to improve profitability.
In February, it said it would cut 15% of its corporate workforce, or about 1,750 jobs. It had previously implemented a hiring freeze and put its internship programs on hold. Southwest has also suspended its decades-long tradition of employee team-building rallies that have often included top-name concerts.
Last year, Southwest ended another decades-old tradition, when it began eliminating its open seating model for assigned seats, the standard for the airline industry.
Southwest Airlines shows no sign of pulling back its commitment at BWI Marshall. It carried more than 18 million passengers through the airport last year and is helping fund new baggage handling systems and waiting areas at passenger gates.
In February, it launched its fist-ever overnight flights, with three of the five departing from BWI Marshall to Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Phoenix.
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