Southwest Airlines to Stop Operating Out of Newark Liberty International

This week, Southwest Airlines announced it will cease operating out of Newark International Airport beginning this autumn. The decision came following significant financial fallout from the airline’s grounding of the Boeing 737 Max, which were taken out of service following two fatal crashes earlier this year. 

“The financial results at Newark have been below expectations, despite the efforts of our excellent team at Newark,” Southwest chairman and CEO Gary C. Kelly said in a statement.

Southwest revealed that its operations in Newark haven’t yielded enough profit to justify its operations there, and that it is registering stronger demand from LaGuardia Airport starting Nov. 3.

“As such, we are taking necessary steps to mitigate damages and optimize our aircraft and resources,” Southwest said in its earnings report statement.

Southwest originally launched flight service out of Newark in 2011, and as of June has offered around 20 daily departures to 10 cities, including Denver, San Diego and Chicago, from the New Jersey airport.

Southwest says the airline’s nearly 125 employees at Newark will be offered positions at LaGuardia, or will be able to bid for other jobs elsewhere.

“I am grateful to our wonderful Newark employees, who are a top priority, and will be given an opportunity to relocate to another station in our system, including LaGuardia Airport, where we are experiencing strong customer demand,” said Kelly. “As part of this move, we will offer options and flexibility for customers to recover planned travel from other area airports.”