The CEO of Southwest Airlines stated that the recent rise in airfare costs would not likely stop anytime soon.

Jordan stated, "The demand is still quite strong going forward." 
"We continue to face challenges from lower production and efficiency as well as inflationary pressures."

"Consumer and business mood are both declining, and there are certain data signals that may hint to the beginnings of a downturn," he continued. 
"But demand is still strong now, and our business hasn't been significantly impacted. 
As usual, we'll keep an eye on the situation and be prepared to act if necessary."

Southwest's staffing levels are a plus; according to Jordan, the airline has achieved its objectives.

We achieved pre-pandemic staffing levels in May 2022, which is a fantastic accomplishment, and I'm incredibly delighted to say it. 
For instance, we keep employing pilots and anticipate adding over 10,000 new staff this year due to attrition," Jordan said. 
We gain from better staffing, training and deploying new employees, increasing short-haul flights to improve network reliability, and increasing flights between crew bases.

We are laser-focused on reducing fleet and capacity plans, moderating overall hiring, optimising staffing to flight schedules, ringing out cost inefficiencies, and returning to our historic efficiency levels by the end of next year. He continued, "We know we have work to do on the efficiency side as we focus on 2023."

And after several months of gradual drops, airfare increased by 0.8% from August to September.

Additionally, between September 2021 and September 2022, gas prices increased by 18.2%.

As holiday prices are likely to rise to their highest levels in five years, particularly over Christmas, the expense of flying is expected to continue to be a consideration.

When buying their tickets on a Sunday, travellers looking to book a trip and save some money can expect an average of 5% on domestic flights and up to 15% on international airfare.