Gary C. Kelly
FILE - In this Dec. 31, 2020 file photo, a Southwest Airlines jetliner taxis down a runway for takeoff from Denver International Airport in Denver. Southwest Airlines plans to raise minimum pay to $15 an hour for about 7,000 employees, citing the need to attract and keep workers as the airline industry continues to recover from the pandemic. Southwest said Friday, June 25, 2021, that it intends for the raises to take effect on Aug. 1. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)
Southwest Airlines plans to raise minimum pay to $15 an hour

Jun. 25, 2021 05:28 PM EDT

FILE - In this Oct. 3, 2018 file photo, Gary Kelly, Chairman and CEO, Southwest Airlines Co., speaks in Detroit. Southwest said Wednesday, June 23, 2021, that Kelly will step down next February and be succeeded by Robert Jordan, the airline's executive vice president of corporate services.(AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)
Longtime Southwest Airlines CEO will step down next year

By David Koenig Jun. 23, 2021 10:17 AM EDT

Boeing 737 Max airplanes sit parked in a storage lot, Monday, April 26, 2021, near Boeing Field in Seattle. Boeing is paying $17 million and promising to take steps to fix production problems with its popular 737 jets. The Federal Aviation Administration said Thursday, May 27, that the settlement covers the installation of unapproved sensors and other parts on some Boeing 737 models including NGs and the Max. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
Boeing to pay $17 million to settle plane production issues

By David Koenig May. 27, 2021 11:28 AM EDT

A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 passenger plane takes off from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, Tuesday, April 20, 2021, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Southwest Airlines Co. on Thursday, April 22 reported first-quarter net income of $116 million, after reporting a loss in the same period a year earlier. The Dallas-based company said it had profit of 19 cents per share. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
US aid lifts Southwest to Q1 profit, American loses $1.25B

By David Koenig Apr. 22, 2021 12:09 PM EDT

A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 passenger plane takes off from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, Tuesday, April 20, 2021, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Southwest Airlines Co. on Thursday, April 22 reported first-quarter net income of $116 million, after reporting a loss in the same period a year earlier. The Dallas-based company said it had profit of 19 cents per share. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
US airline bailout helps Southwest post $116 million profit

Apr. 22, 2021 08:11 AM EDT

Southwest to recall flight attendants before summer season

Apr. 08, 2021 05:31 PM EDT
DALLAS (AP) — Southwest Airlines said Thursday it plans to recall more than 2,700 flight attendants who took leaves of absence last year, the latest sign that...

FILE - In this Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2020 file photo, a worker uses a flashlight to inspect an engine on a Boeing 737 Max 8 built for Southwest Airlines at Renton Municipal Airport in Renton, Wash. On Monday, mach 29, 2021, Southwest said it's expanding its all-Boeing fleet with an order for 100 737 MAX airplanes. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
Southwest Airlines orders 100 Boeing 737 Max planes

By David Koenig Mar. 29, 2021 11:58 AM EDT

FILE - In this Tuesday, March 9, 2021 file photo, travelers walk through the Salt Lake City International Airport, in Salt Lake City. The number of people flying in the United States has eclipsed the year-ago level for the first time in the pandemic period, although travel remains deeply depressed from 2019. The Transportation Security Administration said 1.34 million people passed through U.S. airport checkpoints on Sunday, March 14 topping the 1.26 million people that TSA screened on the comparable Sunday a year ago. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)
US air travel rises to highest levels yet since pandemic hit

By David Koenig Mar. 15, 2021 02:56 PM EDT

A "Now Hiring" sign is displayed, Thursday, March 4, 2021, in Salem, N.H. After a year of ghostly airports, empty sports stadiums and constant Zoom meetings, growing evidence suggests that the economy is strengthening. Hiring picked up in February 2021. Business restrictions have eased as the pace of viral infections has ebbed. Yet the economy remains far from normal. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
From job cuts to online commerce, virus reshaped US economy

By Christopher Rugaber Mar. 11, 2021 04:36 PM EST

An American Airlines Boeing 777 is framed by utility wires as it prepares to land at Miami International Airport, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021, in Miami. The airline said Thursday that it lost $2.2 billion in the fourth quarter, with revenue plunging by nearly two-thirds from a year earlier. And the airline lost $8.9 billion for the full year after earning nearly $1.7 billion in 2019. .(AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
Airlines close books on rotten 2020 and so far, 2021 is grim

By David Koenig Jan. 28, 2021 11:58 AM EST

FILE - In this Dec. 31, 2020 file photo, a Southwest Airlines jetliner taxis down a runway for takeoff from Denver International Airport in Denver. Southwest said Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021, that it lost $3.1 billion last year, its first full-year loss since 1972. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)
Pandemic pushes Southwest to first full-year loss since 1972

Jan. 28, 2021 08:44 AM EST

FILE - In this June 24, 2020 file photo, Southwest Airlines employee Oscar Gonzalez, right, assists a passenger at the ticket counter at Love Field in Dallas. Southwest Airlines says it's not going to furlough workers in 2021 after all. The airline's CEO says that with Washington's approval of $15 billion in new federal aid to airlines, furloughs or pay cuts aren't needed. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez, File)
Southwest pulls threat of furloughs after relief bill signed

By David Koenig Dec. 28, 2020 02:23 PM EST

FILE - In this May 14, 2020 file photo, Terry Sullivan, general manager of Fondren Fitness, a Jackson, Miss., fitness center, sanitizes a workout machine. Fitness regimens shifted from the gym to the home in a big way during 2020. Interactive fitness bike maker Peloton was one of the biggest winners of the workout-from-home trend as gyms did not fare so well as people avoided crowded places. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
Some businesses thrived, many lagged during pandemic in 2020

The Associated Press Dec. 23, 2020 11:50 AM EST

Chef Proprieter Brenda Buenviaje smiles as she is interviewed at Brenda's French Soul Food in San Francisco, Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020. In pre-pandemic days, Brenda's French Soul Food was always hopping, but everything came to a screeching halt on March 16, when San Francisco halted indoor dining to stop the spread of the coronavirus. It reopened for takeout and delivery, and Buenviaje is now shipping meals nationwide through a service called Goldbelly. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
From restaurants to retailers, virus transformed economies

By Paul Wiseman And Alexandra Olson Dec. 16, 2020 12:41 PM EST

Teo Perez, from left, works in the kitchen with Jorge Morales and Jaime Hernandez at Brenda's French Soul Food in San Francisco, Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020. In pre-pandemic days, Brenda's French Soul Food was always hopping, but everything came to a screeching halt on March 16, when San Francisco halted indoor dining to stop the spread of the coronavirus. It reopened for takeout and delivery, and Chef Proprieter Brenda Buenviaje is now shipping meals nationwide through a service called Goldbelly. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
From restaurants to retailers, virus transformed economies

By Paul Wiseman And Alexandra Olson Dec. 16, 2020 11:02 AM EST

FILE - In this Oct. 20, 2020, file photo, a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-7H4 takes off from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Southwest Airlines expects travel demand to remain depressed in early 2021. Southwest CEO Gary Kelly said Thursday, Nov. 19, that means his airline will have a lot more planes than it needs. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File)
Southwest, United Airlines see weak demand over holidays, 1Q

By David Koenig Nov. 19, 2020 12:19 PM EST

FILE - In this Oct. 27, 2020, file photo, passengers walk through Salt Lake City International Airport, in Salt Lake City. Business travel might never look the same in the wake of the coronavirus. Consulting firm McKinsey and Co. says it took international business travel five years to recover after the 2008 recession. But this time, the ease of videoconferencing could put a permanent dent in corporate trips. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)
Correction: Virus Outbreak-Business Travel story

By Dee-Ann Durbin And David Koenig Nov. 11, 2020 12:01 AM EST

FILE - In this Oct. 18, 2019, file photo a JetBlue Airways flight flies in to Salt Lake City International Airport in Salt Lake City. JetBlue says it plans to increase the number of seats it will fill on planes starting in December. That makes JetBlue the latest airline to retreat from blocking middle seats to give passengers more space because of the pandemic. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)
JetBlue is the latest airline to retreat from blocking seats

By David Koenig Oct. 29, 2020 03:33 PM EDT

A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-7H4 takes off, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2020, from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Airlines are continuing to pile up billions of dollars in losses as the pandemic causes a massive drop in air travel. Southwest Airlines on Thursday, Oct. 22, lost $1.16 billion in the normally strong third quarter, which includes most of the summer vacation season.(AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
US airlines still piling up losses but say demand is rising

By David Koenig Oct. 22, 2020 07:36 AM EDT

President Donald Trump stands on the balcony outside of the Blue Room as returns to the White House Monday, Oct. 5, 2020, in Washington, after leaving Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, in Bethesda, Md. A federal appeals court says Trump's accountant must turn over his tax records to a New York state prosecutor. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan ruled Wednesday, Oct. 7. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Bleak outlook without stimulus: More layoffs, anemic growth

By Christopher Rugaber Oct. 07, 2020 04:03 PM EDT