Southwest Airlines reports first quarterly profit in two years

Southwest Airlines reports first quarterly profit in two years

CHICAGO-Southwest Airlines Co on Thursday reported its first quarterly profit in two years on the back of a recovery in holiday travel before the Omicron outbreak and expects to be profitable in 2022.

The Texas-based carrier anticipates a loss in the current quarter through March as the Omicron coronavirus variant depresses revenue again and drives up costs. But the company expects to be profitable for the remaining three quarters of 2022 and for the full year.

While leisure travel tends to cool off in January and February in a normal year, Southwest said the Omicron variant has led to further weakness in bookings and an increase in ticket cancellations.

It expects a $330 million hit to its revenue in the first two months of this quarter due to the drop in demand for leisure and business travel.

Incoming chief executive Bob Jordan said the carrier was "optimistic" about bookings and revenue trends for March, when it expects to return to profitability.

"With COVID-19 cases trending downward, the worst appears to be behind us," said Jordan, who is due to become the company's sixth CEO next month.

Other U.S. carriers such as American Airlines, United Airlines and Delta Air Lines , too, expect the Omicron variant's impact