Southwest has posted a profit – with a little help from the American taxpayer.
It is the first major US airline to report a profit in the pandemic era with a surplus of $116 million in the first quarter.
Southwest posted revenue of $2.05 billion and says that without federal aid it would have recorded a loss of more than $1 billion.
The airline has received more than $5 billion in aid since last year out of more than $64 billion given to the airline industry in low-interest loans and grants.
"While the pandemic is not over, we believe the worst is behind us, in terms of the severity of the negative impact on travel demand," said CEO Gary Kelly.
Southwest is faring slightly better than its biggest rivals as they rely more heavily on the business travel market which is still severely depressed.
In contrast, American Airlines posted a quarterly loss of $1.25 billion this week.
Kelly doesn’t see a quick uptick in business travel any time soon.
"We would be foolish to plan for a quick recovery of business travel," Kelly said.
"The good news about Southwest is that we’re a low-cost business model. We’re very well suited for this environment. We’re certainly in a position where we can be prosperous and profitable with mostly leisure travel."
