Southwest Airlines will reposition roughly 120 ground operations and frontline staffers across four airports, but the carrier insists these moves do not amount to layoffs. Workers at San Jose Mineta International Airport, Los Angeles International Airport, Hollywood Burbank Airport, and Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport all face reassignment as the airline grapples with excess staffing.
A muted growth strategy and the current flight schedule for 2025 created the need for workforce alignment at those four locations, according to a Southwest spokesperson who corresponded with SFGATE. The company has not disclosed how many of the 120 employees work at the San Jose hub.
The Dallas Business Journal initially framed the changes as job eliminations in a report published Friday. However, Southwest maintains that every affected employee can remain with the airline. Options include bidding for open positions at other airports, applying for different roles within the company, or accepting a severance package to depart voluntarily.
Details about how employees learned of the relocation options remain unclear. Southwest declined to specify the San Jose breakdown but confirmed that service levels at the airport will not shrink. Meanwhile, airport officials at SJC opted not to comment on the forthcoming adjustments.
Southwest’s footprint at San Jose remains substantial. More than 7 million travelers flew the carrier out of SJC in 2023, cementing its status as the airport’s dominant airline. The restructuring does not signal a retreat from the Bay Area market.
The workforce realignment underscores a broader challenge facing airlines: balancing staffing levels against conservative expansion plans. As Southwest navigates a year of measured growth, employees at affected airports now face pivotal choices about their futures with the company.
