Southwest stock is rising in the premarket session on Tuesday, trading 1.8% higher at $30.82.
The surge — which is outperforming the wider market with Nasdaq Futures up 0.3% and S&P Futures up 0.25% — follows the company’s announcement that it is laying off 15% of its corporate workforce, or about 1,750 roles.
Eleven leadership positions have also been eliminated as part of the layoffs and the restructuring that is expected to be completed by the end of June this year.
The Dallas-based airlines company expects to save $210 million as a result of this action in 2025 and $300 million in 2026, while it pays as much as $80 million in severance to the affected employees.
Dubbing the move “unprecedented” and “difficult,” CEO Bob Jordan said it would make SouthWest a “leaner, faster, and more agile organization.”
SouthWest stock last closed 1.2% higher at $30.28 on Monday in regular trading.
It is down roughly 10% in 2025 so far and has had a rough time at the bourses for quite some time, down over 50% since April 2021.