Texas Travelers Beware: Southwest Airlines No Longer Flying Out of This Airport

Southwest Airlines has announced it will stop flying out of four airports, including Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport.

The company said it will stop flying to IAH on August 4, 2024, as part of a plan to deal with weak financial results and delays in getting new planes from Boeing.

Southwest will also stop flying to these three airports: Cozumel, Mexico; Syracuse, New York; and Bellingham, Washington. They'll also implement capacity reductions in Atlanta, Georgia, and Chicago, Illinois.

This is Southwest's second split from IAH. They stopped operating out of the airport in 2005 and just returned three years ago in 2021.

However, the city's smaller Hobby Airport still remains an option for Southwest customers.

This news comes after the airline reported a first-quarter loss of $231 million.

"We're also taking steps to restore an industry-leading financial performance that enables us to best serve the millions of customers who fly with us each week," the airline said in a statement.

The closures will allow the airline to focus on more profitable locations and deploy a fleet of planes that will be smaller than it had planned.

The Dallas-based airline, however, did say it expects to end 2024 with 2,000 fewer employees than it had at the start of the year.

American Airlines also had less-than-stellar news as they reported a loss of $312 million as labor costs rose 18%. The airline did say they expect to return to profitability in the second quarter, which is a busier time for travel.