Southwest Airlines

Southwest Airlines is lifting the threat of furloughs or pay cuts for thousands of workers now that U.S. airlines will get up to $15 billion more in taxpayer aid contained in the coronavirus-relief bill.

Southwest Airlines will again be booking middle seats on flights. All passengers are still required to wear masks aboard the plane.

Southwest Airlines hopes their planes will be a little more full starting December 1. That’s when the Dallas-based carrier will resume filling the middle seat. Southwest doesn’t assign seats but had been underselling the cabin in order to free up the middle seat to make travelers feel safer during the pandemic. The airline defended its decision in a statement,...

Southwest Airlines says its workers must take pay cuts or face furloughs next year.

About 40,000 workers in the airline industry are facing layoffs on Thursday unless Congress comes up with another aid package.

Southwest Airlines will soon test thermal cameras to spot travelers who are running a fever, a symptom of COVID-19.

More airline employees are signing up for buyouts, leaves of absence and early retirements as the threat of furloughs looms this summer.

Southwest Airlines said Tuesday that new bookings are outpacing cancellations, a turning point in the pandemic that has devastated air travel demand. The Dallas-based carrier said its May operating revenue will likely be down no more than 90% year over year, compared with a previous estimate for a decline as much as 95% compared with May 2019. It added that it’s…

A passenger on a South Florida flight was able to practice the optimal social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic, as he found himself to be the lone man aboard the plane Thursday evening. Bob Pitts, the sole passenger on a Southwest Airlines flight, says he was traveling to St. Louis from Fort Lauderdale to attend his mother’s wake. Before...

A man on a Southwest Airlines flight from Ft. Lauderdale to St. Louis on Thursday night didn’t need a seat in first class to receive VIP treatment. That’s because he was the only passenger on the plane, NBC News reports. Bob Pitts documented some of the flight in a series of videos. “We’re going on our little flight from...

A sole passenger on a Fort Lauderdale-based Southwest flight had a unique flying experience. NBC 6’s Trina Robinson reports.

A passenger on a South Florida flight was able to practice the optimal social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic, as he found himself to be the lone man aboard the plane Thursday evening.

With the evolving nature of the outbreak, some airlines have increased their flight cancellations, and have even begun waiving fees for those who previously booked flights to high-risk countries.

Love was in the air when a couple flying from Colorado to Southern California with their newly adopted baby received a spontaneous mid-flight baby shower. There were no cards or gift-wrapped baby items for Dustin and Caren Moore during their flight from Denver to Long Beach Airport. Instead, the Orange County couple received handwritten notes on napkins from other passengers…

Southwest Airlines continues to fly airplanes with safety concerns while federal officials do a poor job overseeing the airline, a government watchdog said Tuesday. The airline has flown more than 150,000 flights on 88 jets it bought on the used-plane market and which had unconfirmed maintenance histories, the Transportation Department’s inspector general said in a report. That put more than…

Southwest Airlines said it was disappointed with a draft report of a government audit that claimed the Dallas-based carrier failed to prioritize safety by flying millions of passengers on planes with unresolved safety concerns, saying “our friends, our families board our aircraft and not a single one of us would put anything above their safety.”

A federal grand jury has charged 26 people — including airline employees, airport staff and restaurant workers — with running a $4 million drug smuggling and money laundering operation from Puerto Rico’s international airport. The alleged leader of the scheme has not yet been arrested and is believed to be holed up in the Dominican Republic with his pet tiger....

The union representing Southwest Airlines pilots is suing Boeing, saying its pilots are losing money because the company rushed an unsafe plane into service only to have the 737 Max grounded after two deadly crashes.

American Airlines is pulling the Boeing 737 Max from its schedules until early December, a month later than it previously expected, as the grounding of the troubled planes following two fatal crashes continues, sparking flight cancellations over Thanksgiving. The planes have been grounded since mid-March when regulators ordered airlines to stop flying passengers with them after two fatal crashes within...