HELLO 2016! January/February Schedule Now Open!

[Bill]

Good afternoon, everyone!  Today Southwest extended its schedule through January and February, and out to March 8, 2016—there are several changes to note. First, this schedule reflects a bit of a reduction overall to about 3,600 weekday flights, but that happens every year as we move from the end-of-year frenzy into the somewhat quieter months of January and February.  There are a few notable market changes to talk about as well! New Service and Nonstops We’re starting our first-ever service between Burbank and San Francisco with three daily roundtrips.  We’ll also introduce new Boise-Sacramento daily nonstops, connecting two awesome State Capitol cities in the West!  Seasonal nonstop roundtrips will return between Nashville and Ft. Myers, Ft. Lauderdale, and Phoenix, and Grand Rapids and Tampa.  We’re also bringing back nonstops between Indianapolis and Chicago/Midway with two daily trips, which we last served in 2012.  Saturday-only nonstops will start between Buffalo, Dallas/Love, and Washington Reagan to Ft. Myers, as well as several other markets—click here for all the details! Changes in The Rock Our operation at Little Rock will be slightly redesigned.  We’re eliminating our Little Rock-Chicago/Midway and Little Rock/Baltimore nonstops in favor of bringing back two weekday Little Rock/St. Louis roundtrips.  This actually increases the connectivity of The Rock to Chicago, Baltimore, and to the breadth of the rest of our network with very little risk of losing competitive stature.  As far as market eliminations go, the rest are all seasonal. Let me know if you have questions—I’ll be happy to respond.  Have a GREAT week, folks!!!

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[stevexc500]

Hey Bill! LUV the add MSP-FLL! Even Saturday only is sweet for that type of route. Looking forward to Aug 11th to see some Spring Break additions for MSP.

[stevexc500]

And...hope to see some other cities added for MSP on the next round too!

[esenden19]

Hi Bill, thanks for the report. I did have a question for you, however- Coul you tell me if there are any plans for expansion for ROC? (Rochester. NY). After the announcement of MDW ending come November here, there were some people nervous that the destination could be terminated this quarter entirely- Very thankful that didn't happen (Don't know how I would get down to BWI otherwise!) Would you be able to comment on how the market looks here as a whole? Thank you!

[mikebarnbaum]

Thank you for adding daily nonstop service between Sacramento and Boise. I do have a question about this additional service, as there seems to me to be a difference of facts presented from two different articles. In this blog, I clearly read that this new introduction of service is daily. That tells me that it is once a day, everyday, without taking a day off. A similar article through a link from a tweet from the @SacBiz Twitter Handle - Sacramento Business Journal, indicates that this new daily service is being offered five days a week, rather than seven. Their article stated that this daily service operates everyday, except Friday and Sunday. So I am confused. Which article is correct? The blog here, or the Sacramento Business Journal? Will this new service operate once daily without a day off, like the blog here states, or will the service be operated, as the Sacramento Business Journal indicates, once a day with the exception of Friday and Sunday? Please clarify and let me know. In the meantime, I tend to agree with what the blog here is stating. I have been surprised before. Please let me know which article is correct, based on my clarifying question(s) regarding this new service. Have a great month of July ahead, as well as a safe and sane Independence Day. Sincerely, Mike Barnbaum of Sacramento, California Rapid Rewards Member Since 1997

[samuel-dickinso]

Hi Mike! Hope you’re doing well! No, you read that right. When we (I) mention “daily” service, it implies Monday-Friday. Our weekend schedules are always extremely different, particularly Saturdays. Also, with our growing international footprint we’re gradually getting the ability to do things like 3-times-a-week (don’t have that capability yet but we’re working on it!), so when you see me mention “Daily” just assume I mean “Weekdaily.” Bill Owen

[samuel-dickinso]

Emerson, While I can’t comment on specifics for any of our cities, we’re watching ROC very closely and tweaking service to make sure we remain viable there. Watch here and in media for details as they develop! Bill Owen

[samuel-dickinso]

Steve, Me too! We’re watching developments up there very closely. No promises, as it is a fortress hub by another airline—but the people of the Twin Cities have embraced us both graciously and enthusiastically. We’ll “Keep The Faith” if you will! Bill Owen

[steven_morgan]

Wishing a short flight between MCI & ICT would exist. :0)

[geb]

What hope do I have that I will one day see a Southwest flight returning to Jackson, MS? We were extremely disappointed to see Southwest pull out last year.

[brian_keith]

Thanks for the updates on ROC. I echo the concern that ROC will ultimately be dropped. Losing ROC-MDW was a big hit for me. The vast majority of my travel is to the West Coast. For my NOV & DEC trips, my only departure option was a 5:30 am BWI. There were no return options available. 13 years as a promoter and fan of Southwest- hard to do that now when you can't even fly on them! Hope you come up with better options out of ROC before I get too familiar with your competition. That's actually how I landed on Southwest 13 years ago- when United reduced and then axed OAK..

[samuel-dickinso]

Greg, Southwest left Jackson, MS because it was no longer profitable, and hadn’t been for a while. I never say never (anymore) but I wouldn’t hope too hard. Bill Owen

[samuel-dickinso]

Steven, MCI-ICT is an incredibly small market, which is why even at the market’s height in 2000 it averaged less than 23 passengers per day—so I doubt you’ll see that on full-size Boeing jets. Sorry! Bill Owen

[r_andrew_doan]

Hawaii please?! Any possibilities?

[stevexc500]

Thanks for the reply Bill! I would be absolutely thrilled to see a few more options on Southwest at MSP, so we will definitely keep hoping. Loads have been looking great this calendar year!

[pacotechguy]

As a avid Southwest flyer and supporter as an A-List Preferred member I want to thank you for bringing back the IND-MDW service! I live in NW Indiana. And sometimes prefer to fly out of Indy or out of Chicago. Connections were horrible out of Indy most of the time I wanted to fly west. I'm sure this will vastly improve with these changes! Thank you so much!!! Also could you comment on how the DSM (Des Moines, IA) market is doing? I know it's maintaining 2 flights a day but the airport is expanding gates and two southwest gates have been rumored in the local news in past months. Is service set to expand here or at least maintain? Thanks!

[samuel-dickinso]

Scott, Glad the IND changes work for you! Like all of our markets, we’re continuing to monitor DSM. No news yet, as it depends on how the market develops. But we’re watching closely. Thanks for your “bidness”!!! Bill Owen

[samuel-dickinso]

Andrew, NOTHING would please me more than Hawaii. However—one thing Southwest would have to do to make Hawaii a possibility is obtain our ETOPS (Extended Twin Engine Overwater Operations) certification, and that’s a piece of work. We’ve been so busy with so many other things that hasn’t bubbled up to the top of the soda can yet. But It’s still on our radar screen. Stay tuned!!! Bill Owen

[#19]

I am an avid Southwest customer and A-Lister disappointed that there is only one direct flight from DCA to RSW and that is on Saturday. I live next door to DCA and have a condo in SW Florida so I will miss the direct flight each day to and from DCA and RSW. What happened? The flights seemed to be full each time I traveled. Flying from BWI to RSW adds significant cab fare or parking to my trips.

[erlkonig]

Bring back DAL-HRL non-stops. https://riograndeguardian.com/new-cvb-chief-looks-to-bring-more-conventions-meetings-to-spi/ Asked about the concern of some Island leaders that SPI is missing out on tourists from Dallas-Fort Worth because there are no direct flights from the Metroplex, Arnold said: “I do not have all the data in front of me but I do think that one of the things that the CVB can do, collectively, is spend some time with the airlines and see what our opportunities are to regain some of that. I do not know what they are at this moment but what I hear most often is the loss of direct flights. We certainly will go and try to find the right people to talk to and see what it takes to get those back because Dallas is a well-heeled and important market for all of South Texas.”

[frank_warren]

Hey Bill. Thanks for the updates, and for replying to the comments. That is pretty awesome. Any chance you guys will be flying north any time soon? Like Canada or Alaska? Any special challenges, like route authorities, taxes or cold weather performance?

[corky]

What time do the new fares typically open?

[samuel-dickinso]

Frank, One thing we have to fix, technologically, is being able to accept foreign currency in order to serve Canada. The folks up there have very strict rules about that—and our current systems have work-arounds but can’t formally handle anything other than the USD. Alaska will need more of an operational look but is still attractive!!! (Cold doesn’t scare us—we have over 280 departures a day from Chicago/Midway, Milwaukee, and Minneapolis/St. Paul in the winter—and they’re as cold if not colder than Alaska! Bill Owen

[samuel-dickinso]

Harlingen Native— We sure tried—we got up to 2 nonstops a day between Dallas/Love and Harlingen. But, they just didn’t perform. However—we always keep evaluating everything anytime we get new data, so you never know what might come back—especially with all of the new service offering connecting opportunities at the New Lovely Field! Bill Owen

[samuel-dickinso]

Maureen, The slot we had at DCA allowed for either service to Ft. Myers or Ft. Lauderdale—and after a while of flying the RSW route it became obvious that the better use of the slot was to FLL. It’s a far less seasonal market and offered greater long-term potential for beyond connections. I apologize—I know how convenient DCA is to so many residents of DC and Northern Virginia! Bill Owen

[renee_newman]

I sure wish ya'll would look at XNA again. We drive to Tulsa to fly Southwest, which means the short 3 day trips we would like to take, often don't happen because we factor in the drive time to and from Tulsa and it doesn't seem worth it. When I look at the astronomical prices some of the airlines are charging out of here and I see tweets from XNA that say something like "all flights to DFW are full this week", it seems there has to been something worthwhile here.

[stevexc500]

Bill, A follow up, if I may. With the schedule extension coming up on August 11th, will there be changes to the current offerings around the weekend of March 5th, which already exists as a schedule? Earlier this year, this same weekend in March was included as "Spring Break." Will this be the same for 2016???