Southwest Airlines will stop operating out of Bellingham International Airport in August as the company faces financial challenges from Boeing’s aircraft delivery delays.
The company made the announcement Thursday, April 25, as part of disappointing first-quarter 2024 results. Southwest reported a loss of $231 million. As a result, Southwest will stop flights out of four airports, including BLI on Aug. 4.
The other airports impacted include Cozumel International Airport, Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport, and Syracuse Hancock International Airport.
Kip Turner, the aviation director at BLI, said he found out about the decision late Wednesday during an impromptu meeting. And while the Bellingham market was doing well for Southwest, it was primarily the impact of delayed Boeing deliveries that led to the decision to shutter flights.
The Dallas-based company expects to receive 20 new aircraft from Boeing to replace the 35 planned aircraft retirements. Previously, it had expected to receive up to 48 new aircraft and have 49 aircraft retirements.
“It’s going to definitely be a loss to us to have Southwest temporarily depart and we hope to get them back when their Boeing deliveries pick back up,” Turner said. “When everybody’s deliveries start getting back to normal, we envision that Southwest will be interested in probably talking to us again.”
The closure is part of a larger restructuring to improve operating margins and revenue performance, according to the announcement. Southwest will also limit hiring and will ask employees to take additional time off. The company said it expects to end 2024 with approximately 2,000 fewer employees as compared to the end of 2023.
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Customers who had tickets booked after Aug. 5 from BLI through Southwest either into or out of Bellingham are being notified about the change and what their options are, according to a spokesperson from Southwest.
BLI is in frequent talks with other carriers to bring more flights to Bellingham. Turner wouldn’t disclose what carriers had been talked to, but said the PNW and Bellingham offered a vibrant market.
He pointed to Alaska Airlines adding a third daily flight out of Bellingham to Seattle and the flights offered by Allegiant as some “really awesome options” for consumers.
“We hope everybody understands that this is a temporary setback and we have some outstanding carriers here offering excellent routes,” Turner said. “We anticipate to have some good announcements coming forth pretty soon.”
A spokesperson from Alaska Airlines said the carrier is potentially looking to add more flights at Bellingham later in the year based on Southwest’s departure.
Southwest started operating out of BLI in 2021 with flights to Las Vegas, as part of the carrier’s expansion during the COVID-19 pandemic. By 2023, the carrier offered flights to Las Vegas, Oakland and Denver. The airline was preparing to expand its services from Bellingham to Denver in June.
With Southwest’s planned departure, Allegiant, Alaska Airlines and San Juan Airlines will remain the only carriers. Prior to 2022, Alaska used to offer additional nonstop flights from Bellingham.
Ron Malfatti, a retired electrical worker, and his wife frequently use Southwest to fly nonstop to Oakland to visit family in the San Fransisco Bay area. The couple has plans to fly Southwest in July.
“We depended on that ever since they came into the Bellingham Airport and that was our preferred carrier,” the 69-year-old said. “Now, we’re going to have to explore other options.”
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
This story was updated at 8:30 a.m. with comments from Kip Turner, the BLI director of aviation. This story was updated at 10:50 a.m. with comments from Southwest Airlines, Alaska Airlines and Ron Malfatti.
Annie Todd is CDN’s criminal justice/enterprise reporter; reach her at annietodd@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 130.
