DALLAS — Southwest Airlines’ third-quarter revenue rose to a record high but profit fell nearly two-thirds, to $67 million, on higher costs for labor and other expenses.
The airline, which is under pressure from hedge fund Elliott Investment Management to boost profit, said Thursday that adjusted earnings were 15 cents per share, which beat a forecast of six cents per share among Wall Street analysts.
Southwest also said it would speed up repurchase of $250 million worth of its stock, under a $2.5 billion share-buyback plan it announced last month.
Revenue rose 5%, to $6.87 billion, $100 million more than the average forecast among analysts surveyed by FactSet.
However, labor costs rose more than 12%, reflecting recent new contracts for pilots, flight attendants and other employees.
