Southwest CEO announces pay cuts to avoid layoffs, furloughs through 2021

The expired $25 billion stimulus package is causing airlines to furlough workers and cut flights. FOX Business’ Kristina Partsinevelos with more.
In a video to employees Monday, Southwest CEO Gary Kelly announced that the airline will need to “sacrifice more” by undergoing pay cuts in an effort to avoid layoffs and furloughs through 2021 amid the coronavirus pandemic’s ongoing impact on travel demand.
The announcement comes as the airline industry has been pleading for an extension of the payroll support program allotted under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act which Congress passed in March following the expiration of the $25 billion bailout on Oct.1.
Kelly noted that since the act’s Payroll Support Program (PSP) has expired, that Southwest “simply cannot afford to continue with the conditions required to maintain full pay and employment,” Kelly said.
Applauding his employees, stating they “all have performed magnificently” and called them