Citing close-in booking trends that were "softer" than expected, Southwest Airlines has reduced its projected third-quarter managed business revenue, according to a Thursday filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The carrier now projects such revenue to be 26 percent to 28 percent lower compared with 2019 levels, versus the 17 percent to 21 percent decline previously estimated.
July and August managed business travel revenues were down approximately 26 percent and 32 percent, respectively, from 2019 levels, according to Southwest.
Southwest also slightly altered its overall third-quarter revenue guidance. The carrier now projects a 9 percent to 11 percent revenue increase from 2019 as compared with the 8 percent to 12 percent range it previously had estimated, crediting leisure revenue trends that “remain elevated” and are exceeding the company’s expectations for the third quarter, offsetting the lower-than-anticipated business revenues.
“We saw stronger advance bookings from leisure travelers, so the [third] quarter is shaping up basically in line with where we thought we would be,” a Southwest spokesperson wrote in an email.
Still, managed business revenue trends have improved so far in September relative to August, “with an estimated 8- to 10-point sequential improvement” compared with respective 2019 levels, according to the filing.
“The most pertinent data point is that business revenue trends post-Labor Day are strong, with current bookings in the fourth quarter also looking strong at this point,” according to Southwest. “The improvement we’re seeing this month is an important data point for us.”