Southwest’s CEO says the Trump years will be good for airlines

The leader of Southwest Airlines (LUV-0.68%) is looking forward to the incoming administration of Donald Trump. In an interview with Yahoo Finance, CEO Bob Jordan says the next White House will create a business environment that is favorable for his industry.

“We work well with every administration, but obviously there’s a lot of thought going in right now with what the change means,” he said. “I think it’s constructive in a lot of ways. Obviously, the tax efforts I think are constructive. The regulatory environment I hope is also more constructive for the industry.”

Other executives have also expressed excitement about a second Trump presidency. Last month, Delta Air Lines (DAL-0.16%) CEO Ed Bastian said that he thinks Trump will represent a “breath of fresh air” after what he called a “level of overreach” by the Biden administration. Likewise, Frontier Airlines (ULCC-1.23%) CEO Barry Biffle is enthusiastic about what’s to come.

“There’s also going to be kind of a unshackling,” he told Reuters (TRI-0.43%). “We’re going to focus on things that matter, like, like safety, and stop worrying about regulating prices and regulating experiences.”

The Biden years have brought scrutiny to bear on airline industry practices. His Department of Transportation has focused a lot on so-called “junk fees”, like baggage fees and seat assignment fees. Another policy that has annoyed carriers has been a new rule that requires airlines to automatically refund passengers for canceled flights.

In a recent interview, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says that effort in particular will not be likely be rolled back, calling it “the law of the land” after being included in a reauthorization bill for the Federal Aviation Administration.

“The automatic refunds principle, for example, began as a rule making, but it wound up in the FAA legislation, which means it’s not something that any administration can unilaterally change,” he said.