As announced yesterday, Southwest Airlines will begin service to Minneapolis/St. Paul in March 2009. Here are a few questions and answers that may be on your mind regarding our 65th city.
Q: Why did we choose MSP?
A: Our Schedule Planning Department, in conjunction with Southwest Airlines Leadership, saw an opportunity to strategically expand Southwest’s route map.
Q: When will we announce routes and fares?
A: We plan to release frequency, fares, and start date later this fall. For now, we are planning a modest opening in MSP with initial service to MDW this spring.
Q: What does this mean for our 2009 growth?
A: Presently, we intend to grow our 2009 fleet by no more than ten Boeing 737-700 aircraft. We recently deferred four aircraft scheduled for delivery from Boeing in 2009 to 2016. But it is likely that we will not grow our available seat miles in 2009. We are thankful to have flexibility with our schedules because we can choose when and what quantity of aircraft to retire. We also are empowered with new schedule planning tools which give us the ability to adjust our flight schedules in order to best utilize the aircraft that we have.
Q: So if our growth is flat in 2009, does this mean we’re taking away other flights?
A: We need to place our aircraft on the routes where they can be most productive and most profitable so it is always possible that unproductive flights may be cut. However, with the optimized Schedule Planning tools as well as the advantage of the decreased flying time due to summer winds, we may be able to add flights, while keeping growth flat.
Q: Was this decision made because of the possible Delta/Northwest merger?
A: No. We’ve been interested in MSP for a long time. The strategic implications of adding MSP have been studied for quite some time. In this situation, we wanted to be able to take advantage of an opportunity and act quickly.
Q: Why are we starting with such a modest opening?
A: In this volatile economic environment with high fuel prices, we want to avoid unnecessary risk. We are planning a modest opening with great connection to our robust MDW network. The MSP market will provide an excellent complement to our existing route map.
Q: How do MSP airport costs compare to other Southwest cities?
A: Airport costs at the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport are in line with other airports we serve.
