List of Southwest Airlines destinations
As of August 2020, Southwest Airlines has scheduled flights to 103 destinations[1] in 40 states, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, the newest being Cozumel, Mexico on March 7, 2020. The airline has 15 focus cities and operates over 4,000 flights each day.[2]
Destinations
Southwest does not use the "hub and spoke" system of other major airlines, preferring instead the "point-to-point" system with focus cities.[3] It has large operations in certain airports. An average of 80 percent of Southwest passengers are local passengers— only 20 percent of all passengers are connecting passengers. This is higher than most airlines, where many passengers connect in hub cities. However, at Southwest's focus cities, the percentage of connecting passengers can reach 30 percent.[4] As part of its effort to control costs, Southwest sometimes uses secondary airports in cities with high costs. Secondary airports have lower costs and may be more convenient to travelers than major airports. Some examples include:
- Chicago, Illinois: Southwest uses Chicago Midway International Airport instead of O'Hare International Airport.
- Dallas, Texas: Southwest uses Dallas Love Field instead of Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.
- Houston, Texas: Southwest uses William P. Hobby Airport instead of George Bush Intercontinental Airport.
- Miami/Fort Lauderdale, Florida: Southwest uses Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport instead of Miami International Airport.
- New York City, New York: From 1999-2009, Southwest served the greater New York metropolitan area exclusively out Long Island MacArthur Airport. Since then, they have expanded to LaGuardia and Newark airports, though the latter was cut in November 2019. Southwest has never served John F. Kennedy International Airport, the main airport for the region.
- Washington, D.C./Baltimore, Maryland: Southwest uses Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport as the primary gateway to the combined Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area. Southwest does serve both Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Washington Dulles International Airport now, but operations at the two airports are comparatively smaller.
- San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose, California: Although Southwest flies to all 3 major airports in San Francisco Bay Area, the operations at both Oakland International Airport and San Jose International Airport are both much larger than San Francisco International Airport in terms of both daily departures and non-stop destinations.
AirTran cities acquired by Southwest
Through Southwest's acquisition of AirTran Airways, Southwest opened a focus city in Atlanta and acquired additional slots at Washington–National and New York–LaGuardia. In addition, Southwest added service to the following destinations.[5]
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International service
Southwest began planning international service when it acquired AirTran, which already served international destinations. Southwest's first approach to international service came on April 19, 2012 when it signed a contract with the Amadeus IT Group to launch an international reservation system. This agreement gave the airline the capability to begin flying to destinations outside of the United States.[6]
Southwest debuted the international reservation system on January 27, 2014 when its first international flights went on sale. This was followed by the first international flights which began on July 1, 2014 to Aruba (AUA), Montego Bay, Jamaica (MBJ) and Nassau, Bahamas (NAS).
Southwest built a 5 gate international terminal at William P. Hobby Airport that opened in 2015. Southwest also built a 5 gate international terminal in Fort Lauderdale that opened in 2017.[7]
Table
As of April 2020, Southwest Airlines serves 103 destinations:
| Operating Base | |
| Future destination |
Terminated destinations
References
- "Southwest Airlines - Route Map". www.southwest.com.
- "Southwest Corporate Fact Sheet - Corporate Fact Sheet - Southwest Airlines Newsroom". swamedia.com. Archived from the original on April 3, 2015. Retrieved January 4, 2015.
- "Southwest route map". FlightConnections.com. June 2, 2019. Retrieved June 2, 2019.
- Jeremy Sickler. "Chapter 7: Flight Arrival Flow: Southwest vs. Legacy Carriers". Archived from the original on May 19, 2004. Retrieved May 14, 2017.
- Southwest Airlines (January 20, 2012). "Southwest Airlines and AirTran Airways Confirm Plans to Maintain AirTran Airways Operations at 22 Domestic and International Airports - Southwest Airlines Newsroom". Southwest Airlines. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
- "Southwest Airlines Newsroom: Releases". Swamedia.com. April 19, 2012. Archived from the original on December 17, 2013. Retrieved July 29, 2013.
- "Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport overhauls terminal to add international travel". Sun Sentinel.
- "Summer is Hereâ€"Summer 2017 Schedule is now Published!". www.southwestaircommunity.com. January 5, 2017.
- "Southwest Reports Record Second Quarter Revenues And Earnings Per Share". Southwest Airlines Newsroom.
- "When Did We Arrive?". Southwest Airlines Newsroom.
- {{cite web|url=https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/southwest-airlines-announces-new-destination-steamboat-springs-301010156.html | title=Southwest Airlines Announces New Destination: Steamboat Springs |website=Cision Pr Newswire}
- Segal, Dave (October 11, 2017). "Southwest Airlines makes it official: Hawaii service on the way". Star-Advertiser. Honolulu. Retrieved January 9, 2018.
- "Hawaii, More Is On The Way! Southwest Airlines Expanded Service For The Hawaiian Islands Now On Sale". Southwest Airlines Newsroom.
- Jason Williams (January 4, 2017). "Long-time coming: Southwest lands in Cincinnati". cincinnati.com.
- "Southwest ends flights from Fort Lauderdale to Cuba's Varadero and Santa Clara". miamiherald.
- "Southwest Airlines Reports Fourth Quarter And Annual Profit; 46th Consecutive Year Of Profitability - Southwest Airlines Newsroom". swamedia.com.
- "Openings/Closings - By Category - Southwest Airlines Newsroom". swamedia.com. Archived from the original on September 6, 2015. Retrieved February 16, 2012.
- "Southwest Airlines To Cease Operations In Three Cities - Southwest Airlines Newsroom". swamedia.com.
- "Southwest Airlines pulls plug on flights from Flint". Retrieved November 2, 2017.
- "Southwest Reports Record Second Quarter Revenues And Earnings Per Share". Retrieved July 25, 2019.
- Southwest Airlines to leave Akron-Canton; plans new flights to Atlanta, St. Louis from Cleveland Hopkins (Cleveland.com)
- Robert Mueller Municipal Airport