Feb 20, 2019
Southwest Airlines Drops as Government Shutdown Hurts Revenue
Bloomberg News
,(Bloomberg) -- Southwest Airlines Co. shares slid early Wednesday after saying the U.S. government shutdown will hit revenue harder than it previously expected.
The company now expects to lose $60 million in revenue because of the shutdown from Jan. 1 through Jan. 23. Previously, the discount airline had estimated a $10 million to $15 million first-quarter impact, it said in a regulatory filing on Wednesday.
“The company has continued to experience softness in passenger demand and bookings as a result of the government shutdown,” Southwest said. Revenue per available seat mile, a measure of fares, will rise in the range of 3-4 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, where it had previously guided to a 4-5 percent increase.
Southwest shares slipped 2.9 percent in pre-market New York trading. The stock closed Tuesday at $57.67, giving it a market value of $31.9 billion.
To contact the reporter on this story: Anthony Palazzo in London at apalazzo@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Anthony Palazzo at apalazzo@bloomberg.net, Christopher Jasper
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