Southwest Airlines shares tumble after mass flight cancellations, carrier weighs more cuts
- Southwest canceled more than 2,000 flights since Saturday.
- The airline blamed air traffic control issues, bad weather and its own staffing shortage.
- Outraged customers complained about long hold times to change flights.
Southwest Airlines shares tumbled more than 3% in premarket trading Monday after canceling more than 2,000 flights since Saturday, disrupting the travel plan of thousands of people.
Southwest canceled 347 flights on Monday, down from 1,124 on Sunday, which was 30% of its schedule, according to flight-tracking site FlightAware.
The airline has already said it would trim its fall schedules to avoid cancellations and delays that plagued its operation during the summer. Now the airline is weighing whether it needs to cut more.
The Dallas-based airline's president, Mike Van de Ven told staff late Sunday that Southwest is still short-staffed and "we'll need to continue to adjust our schedules as this environment evolves.
"We've already made significant reductions from our previously published November and December schedules, and if we think we need to do more, we will," Van de Ven said in a recorded message to employees, which was reviewed by CNBC.
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Oil Futures Settle Sharply Higher
Crude oil futures climbed higher on Monday with falling inventories, the OPEC and allies’ decision to stick with their plan of increasing production gradually, and the ongoing energy crunch supporting oil prices.
The Department of Energy’s comments last week that there are no plans to tap into strategic reserves for now continued to support oil prices.
Russia’s Gazprom PJSC, Europe’s biggest supplier of the fuel, has increased its 2021 price guidance for natural gas exports and reiterated that shoring up inventories at home was its top priority.
West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November settled at $80.52 a barrel, gaining $1.17 or about 1.5%.
Brent crude futures were up $1.28 or 1.55% at $83.67 a barrel a little while ago.
Power prices have surged to record highs due to widespread energy shortages in Asia, Europe and the United States. Several countries across the world have switched to oil for power generation as gas prices have been rising consistently.
Economic activity is seeing a revival in many countries thanks to the momentum in vaccination drive.
Some Indian states are reported to be experiencing electricity blackouts because of coal shortages, while in China the government has ordered miners to ramp up coal production as power prices surge.
European Economics Preview: Eurozone Final Composite PMI Data Due
Final composite Purchasing Managers’ survey results from euro area are due on Tuesday, headlining a busy day for the European economic news.
At 2.45 am ET, France’s statistical office Insee publishes industrial output data for August. Economists forecast production to climb 0.4 percent on month, following a 0.3 percent rise in July.
At 3.15 am ET, Spain’s services PMI data is due. The index is seen falling to 58.0 in September from 60.1 in August.
At 3.45 am ET, IHS Markit publishes Italy’s services PMI data. Economists forecast the index to drop to 56.5 in September from 58.0 in August.
Thereafter, final PMI survey results are due from France and Germany at 3.50 am and 3.55 am ET, respectively.
At 4.00 am ET, IHS Markit publishes euro area final composite PMI data. The composite output index is seen at 56.1 in September, unchanged from the flash estimate, and down from 59.0 in August.
Half an hour later, the UK Markit/CIPS final composite PMI survey results are due. Economists expect the services index to ease to 54.6 in September, as initially estimated, from 55.0 in August.
At 5.00 am ET, Eurostat is scheduled to issue euro area producer prices for August. Producer price inflation is expected to advance to 13.5 percent from 12.1 percent in July.