HOUSTON – Southwest Airlines will limit hiring and stop flying to four airports as it faces weak financial results and delays in obtaining new planes from Boeing.

Both Southwest and American Airlines reported first-quarter losses on Thursday. Travel demand remains strong, even among business travelers, but airlines are facing higher labor costs and delays in aircraft deliveries are limiting their ability to add more flights.

Southwest said it lost $231 million. Chief Executive Robert Jordan said the airline was reacting quickly “to address our poor financial performance,” including slowing hiring and asking employees to take time off.

The Dallas-based airline said it expects to end this year with 2,000 fewer employees than at the beginning of the year.

Southwest will also stop flying to four airports: Cozumel, Mexico; Syracuse, New York; Bellingham, Washington; and George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, where the airline’s main operation is based at the smaller Hobby Airport.

The closures will help the airline focus on more profitable locations and deploy a fleet of aircraft that will be smaller than it had planned. Southwest said it expects to receive only 20 new 737 Max 8 planes from Boeing this year, down from the 46 it expected just a few weeks ago. It will offset some of the shortage by retiring fewer planes.

Boeing is struggling with slower production since a door plug broke on an Alaska Airlines Max 9 in January, and that’s frustrating its airline customers.

Dallas-based Southwest said its loss, after excluding special items, was 36 cents per share. That was slightly worse than the 34 cents per share loss that Wall Street was expecting.

Revenue rose to $6.33 billion, missing analysts’ forecast of $6.42 billion.

American said it lost $312 million as labor costs rose 18%, or nearly $600 million. The airline said it expects to return to profitability in the second quarter, a peak time for travel, and post earnings of between $1.15 and $1.45 per share. Analysts expect $1.15 per share, according to a FactSet survey.

The first-quarter loss amounted to 34 cents per share excluding special items, which was worse than the 27 cents per share loss forecast by analysts.

Revenue was $12.57 billion.

Chief Executive Robert Isom said American is less affected by Boeing’s problems because the airline had already taken delivery of hundreds of new planes in recent years. American has ordered Boeing Max 10, a larger model that has not yet been certified by the Federal Aviation Administration, but those planes won’t start appearing until 2028.

“If they don’t agree, we’ve also made sure we’re protected,” Isom told CNBC. He stopped short of saying American would shift orders from Boeing to rival Airbus, saying only, “We’ll take care of it.”

In premarket trading, Southwest shares fell 9% while U.S. stocks rose 3%.