A bird flies by in the foreground as a Southwest Airlines jet comes in for a landing at McCarran International Airport on May 25, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Ethan Miller | Getty Images
Southwest Airlines lost $159 million in the first quarter as the financial impact of its holiday meltdown stretched well into 2023.
The Dallas-based carrier said it expects revenue headwinds into the second quarter but forecast a profit for the three months ending June 30.
Southwest shares were down more than 3% in premarket trading.
Here’s how Southwest performed in the first quarter, compared with Wall Street expectations according to Refinitiv consensus estimates:
- Adjusted loss per share: 27 cents vs an expected loss of 23 cents.
- Total revenue: $5.71 billion vs an expected $5.73 billion.
The carrier had canceled more than 16,000 flights during the holiday chaos when staffing software couldn’t keep pace with scheduling changes during coast-to-coast storms.
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