Southwest Wants to Minimize Cuts Brought On By Fuel Prices

Southwest Airlines, which sells more tickets in Nashville than any other airline, is hoping it won’t have to cut back very much as fuel prices continue to rise.

Already United, American, and Continental have made cuts to their workforce and flight schedule, though the impact those cuts will have on Nashville is still unknown.

Speaking in Nashville today, Southwest President Colleen Barrett said some changes are inevitable.

“We are pretty efficient, I’m not saying that we won’t have to cut some service, we will. The price of fuel is probably going to kill us all. But we’re trying to optimize our schedule so that we don’t have to, so that we can still grow in pockets where there is growth needed.”

Barrett did not know whether Nashville would be a “growth area”, though Southwest is Nashville’s dominant carrier.

Nearly half of all passengers from Nashville International fly on Southwest.

Barrett spoke today at a luncheon for CABLE, a women’s networking organization in Tennessee. Barrett is stepping down as Southwest’s president in July.