January is generally a slow month. Plus the 31st of January is part of the February bid period. So 485 hours isn't as bad as it sounds

Average hours a day in December was 553.75 hours(17166.33 / 31 ). So one less day of flying in January would mean there should be 553.75 less hours than December.

Averages hours a day for Jan is 556 (16681.95 / 30).

So in reality nothing really changed, planning is just making it sound like they did something.