Southwest shipped Texas jet fuel to Los Angeles amid supply concerns

Southwest Airlines said it moved jet fuel from Texas to Los Angeles by ship this spring as the carrier looked for a backup supply route during a period of tighter West Coast fuel markets. Chief Financial Officer Tom Doxey said the airline chartered a barge carrying 12.6 million gallons of fuel that traveled from Houston through the Panama Canal and arrived in Los Angeles on May 28. Southwest said the shipment was intended to cover about a week of fuel needs when supplies were most constrained. The move came as jet fuel costs rose sharply this year, lifting airline expenses and pressuring earnings. Southwest reported nearly $900 million in higher fuel costs in the second quarter compared with a year earlier, while other U.S. carriers have also said fuel prices have been highly volatile.