DALLAS – Southwest Airlines is the first major U.S. airline to report a profit since the pandemic started, as federal payroll aid helped boost the company to net income of $116 million in the first quarter.
Without the federal money, Southwest would have lost $1 billion in the quarter. Southwest also echoed rivals in saying that demand for travel is continuing to improve.
The airline said Thursday that bookings for leisure trips within the United States have been improving each week since mid-February. “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,” Chairman and CEO Gary Kelly said in a statement.