Southwest Airlines (WN, Dallas Love Field) has announced it has revised its Boeing (BOE, Washington National) order book adding B737-8s while deferring its B737-7s.
The Texan LCC said in a financial statement that the revision was aimed at supporting "future growth opportunities and fleet modernization at favourable economics."
To that end, Southwest has exercised options for forty additional B737 MAX 8s with deliveries for fifteen due in 2019 and twenty-five in 2020. It has also accelerated deliveries for twenty-three B737 MAX 8s, originally due from 2023 through 2024, to an additional twenty-one aircraft due in 2021 followed by two in 2022.
However, the airline has deferred twenty-three B737 MAX 7 firm orders, due from 2019 through 2021, to twelve and eleven firm orders due in 2023 and 2024 respectively.
In a statement, Southwest's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Gary Kelly hailed the Trump administration for its decision to cut US corporate tax rates, a key factor in the airline's decision to add more Boeing-manufactured aircraft.
"We applaud Congress and the President for taking this action to pass legislation, which will result in meaningful corporate income tax reform for the transportation sector in general, and for Southwest Airlines, in particular," Kelly said.
As part of the spin-off benefits of Washington's tax cut, Southwest will also pay a USD1,000 bonus to all employees, both part-time and full-time, to celebrate the recent passage of the tax reform legislation.
"We are excited about the savings and additional capital, which we intend to put to work in several forms to reward our hard-working Employees, to reinvest in our business, to reward our Shareholders, and to keep our costs and fares low for our customers," Kelly added.
Fellow Texas-based carrier, American Airlines (AA, Dallas/Fort Worth), will undertake a similar initiative, also paying employees a USD1,000 bonus each.
