Southwest Airlines Lowers 2026 Profit Forecast as Fuel Prices Rise

Southwest Airlines has lowered its profit forecast for 2026. It is the third major U.S. airline to make this kind of cut this month, because fuel prices have gone up.

Southwest now expects 2026 adjusted earnings of between $2.60 and $2.85 a share. In July, the airline had forecast earnings of between $3.25 and $4.25 a share. Adjusted earnings are a company's profit after certain special items are removed from the total.

Delta Air Lines and United Airlines also cut their profit outlooks when they reported third-quarter earnings. Both of those airlines also reported results that fell short of expectations for the quarter.

Southwest's third-quarter results were better than expected in some areas. The airline reported adjusted earnings of 66 cents a share, compared with 58 cents that analysts expected. Its adjusted revenue was $8.42 billion, above the $8.25 billion that was expected.

The airline's average passenger fare was $231.69 in the third quarter. That was up almost 27% from the same quarter of 2025. Even so, the number of revenue passengers carried fell 3.2% to 33.47 million people.

Southwest has also changed some of the ways it charges customers. The airline has started charging for many seat assignments and has added a bag fee.

Looking ahead, Southwest forecast fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of between 55 cents and 80 cents a share. It expects unit revenue to rise as much as 21% from a year earlier, and it expects capacity to grow by up to 4% year over year.

Chief Executive Bob Jordan said travelers continue to book despite higher fares, according to CNBC.