Originally Posted by
HeathrowGuy
Southwest Airlines has been barely breaking even or losing money for quite some time now, if you subtract the financial upside of their fuel hedging gambles.
That is quite a lot to subtract. I think that WN's fuel hedge advantage was and is a fundamental part of their strategy. To say that WN wouldn't be profitable if they weren't so good at managing one of their largest expenses is like saying Wal-Mart wouldn't be profitable if they weren't so good at logistics. The domestic airline industry is a low margin business. Successful control of expenses, be it fleet simplification or fuel hedging or labor costs, is the key to being profitable.