Come Sunday, Southwest Airlines will add 27 nonstop flights to eight more cities from Dallas Love Field as it continues to expand since flight restrictions at the airport were lifted last month.
However, also on Sunday, Southwest will cut 18 flights from Dallas to nine cities in Texas or nearby states.
Both changes come courtesy of the end of the Wright amendment, which became law in 1980 to protect Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. The federal law originally allowed short flights from Love Field to other Texas cities and adjacent states. A 2006 revision let Love Field carriers fly to other U.S. airports after making a stop in Wright amendment cities.
On Oct. 13 the restrictions expired, letting Southwest and other airlines fly nonstop to any U.S. state or U.S. territory.
The new destinations Southwest will fly to starting Sunday are Atlanta; Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood, Fla.; Nashville, Tenn.; New York (LaGuardia); Phoenix; San Diego; Orange County, Calif.; and Tampa, Fla.
The cities where Southwest is reducing service are Albuquerque, N.M.; Austin; El Paso; Houston; Kansas City, Mo.; Little Rock, Ark.; San Antonio; St. Louis; and Tulsa, Okla.
It’s all part of a mix-and-match as Southwest balances customer demand for new nonstop destinations with older connecting flights.
“We make all of these decisions based on local traffic patterns,” said Southwest spokesman Brad Hawkins. For example, the Dallas-Austin route will decline from 12 daily weekday flights to 10, but “many of those passengers were just passing through Austin; now they’re dedicated passengers,” he said.
Sunday’s additions and subtractions mean the Dallas-based airline will end up flying 149 daily weekday departures from Love Field. Before Oct. 13, Southwest flew 118 departures.
On Oct. 13, Southwest added 22 nonstop flights to seven new cities: Baltimore; Chicago (Midway); Denver; Las Vegas; Los Angeles; Orlando, Fla.; and Washington, D.C. (Reagan National).
Three weeks into Southwest’s expansion, Hawkins said it’s going well.
“We approach the expansion with a very pragmatic and conservative plan that we have to prep for any contingency,” he said. “We’re seeing really strong load factors, a strong trend in bookings and we haven’t really had any operational challenges. The expiration of Wright coincided with a beautiful time in travel, when we’ve had great weather.”
Last week, Southwest chief executive Gary Kelly said the airline’s load factors — how full planes fly — had exceeded 90 percent on the airline’s 22 new daily departures. He also said he expects Sunday’s additional routes “will do equally well.”
There are more new flights to come.
On Jan. 6, Southwest will add four nonstop flights to Oakland, Calif., and San Francisco for a total of 153 daily departures to 33 cities. By then, the carrier will have expanded its flying at Love Field by 30 percent since October.
A few other changes will take place Sunday.
Southwest will expand its international flying as it takes over routes formerly flown by AirTran Airways. Southwest acquired AirTran in 2011.
Starting Sunday, the airline will offer daily service from San Antonio to Mexico City, from Austin to Cancun daily and from Chicago Midway to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. Next year, it will launch new international service, starting with flights from Baltimore to Costa Rica on March 7.
International cities are still off-limits to nonstop service from Love Field.
In preparation for the end of AirTran, customers will no longer be able to book travel on AirTran.com as of Sunday and will be sent to Southwest.com, Hawkins said. AirTran will fly its final flight on Dec. 28 from Atlanta to Tampa, which also was its very first route.
Follow Sheryl Jean on Twitter at @SJeanDallas.
Fewer flights
Southwest is reducing service to nine cities on Sunday. Here are the number of weekday flights from Dallas Love Field to each city.
October flights | November flights | |
Albuquerque, N.M. | 8 | 5 |
Austin | 12 | 10 |
El Paso | 6 | 4 |
Houston | 23 | 21 |
Little Rock, Ark. | 4 | 3 |
Kansas City, Mo. | 9 | 7 |
San Antonio | 13 | 10 |
St. Louis | 9 | 7 |
Tulsa | 4 | 3 |
SOURCE: Southwest Airlines
Source: southwest - Google News http://ift.tt/1sVA6rR
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