by Flying is complicated right now, and unless you’re dealing with delays and cancellations, you’re probably facing high airfare costs.
Despite the challenges facing the airline industry right now, one airline is reporting record profits – but they have a warning for future customers.
According to Click Orlando, Southwest Airlines reported second-quarter revenue of $760 million, double its $338 million earnings this time last year. However, customers flying in the second half of 2022 may still see higher costs.
When it comes to costs, Southwest’s fuel consumption is up more than $800 million from just a year ago, and labor and benefits costs rose 21% to $400 million during the year. High numbers of canceled and delayed flights have also contributed to costs, and Southwest “expects non-fuel costs to increase by 12% to 15% per mile in the third quarter” of 2022.
Airlines have blamed staffing problems for some of the reasons behind canceled and delayed flights, but Southwest has been hiring to the extent it reported close to pre-pandemic levels of staff in May. They reported that they expect to add 10,000 jobs by 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 rise. That means you could face more expensive fares as the year goes on.
We recommend booking your flight ASAP, even if your trip is months and months away, and at least it’s not a bad idea to increase your airfare budget or plan to drive, 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 make sure you’re FULLY prepared in all possible travel scenarios:
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