Southwest CEO Comments on Possible International Expansion

Last month, Southwest Airlines made a pretty telling move that seemed to hint at the airline's plans to expand its overseas offerings. This week, the company's CEO broke his silence on that move.

Midway through May, filed with U.S. regulators asking for a permit to fly more international routes, including Europe. The move seemingly indicated that the airline was set to expand its international offerings and compete more with other airlines.

Last week, Southwest Airlines CEO Bob Jordan broke his silence on this move at the Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference.

"We've recently -- yes, we had an open sky submission, we joined IATA, and a lot of that is just to make -- we've been serving international markets for over a decade. Again, closer in Caribbean, Mexico, that kind of thing. But the Open Skies application is really intended just to make these processes easier. So, as we decide that we want to move into other geographies, it makes that decision and then re-upping that decision just simplifies everything," Jordan said in his comments.

That said, Jordan did pump the brakes a little bit as he suggested those moves aren't necessarily a sign of the airline's future strategy.

"So I wouldn't take those as signals of future strategy. Those are really more about being more efficient in terms of how we do apply for new markets," he said.

But he did concede that the airline could be looking to expand its international offerings in the future.

"Now that said, as we do think about adding, for example, long-haul international that Open Skies application, joining IATA certainly helps those decisions. But we're going to be thoughtful. We're going to step through the strategy question carefully," Jordan said.

"The next strategy questions drag with them larger implications, things potentially like fleet. So we'll be thoughtful, nothing to reveal today. But again, this -- we'll be ready to talk to you, I think, in 2026. This isn't years away. So there's work underway to number one, finish what we have in play, and then number two, lay out that next strategy, which I would think about that as a 2026 question."

The airline did announce an international partnership with Taiwan-based China Airlines that would allow for trans-Pacific journeys across the Southwest network, but it sounds like more offerings could be coming in the future.