We like Cargo at Southwest Airlines, and we like milestones, so today is an exciting occasion as it marks our first International Cargo shipment. That’s right, hosers -- beginning today, Southwest will launch an interline Cargo agreement with our friends north of the border, WestJet, by allowing our Cargo Customers in six cities (Dallas, Denver, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and Phoenix) to transport their hockey sticks, skates, and any other acceptable Cargo items to four Canadian cities (Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, and Vancouver).
Our Cargo Department has been hard at work on several initiatives, and it’s exciting to see another one of them come to fruition. While we eventually hope to be able to transport Cargo throughout both airlines’ entire route networks, this initial phase will only allow for the export of Cargo from the U.S. to Canada.
Customers in the six U.S. cities can ship their Cargo via Southwest Airlines, where it will be routed through Las Vegas and transferred to a WestJet flight (after the appropriate paperwork and procedures are complete) and ultimately delivered to one of the aforementioned Canadian cities listed above.
WestJet makes for a natural first partner for our entrance into International Cargo shipments given our positive working relationship and eventual plans to offer passenger codeshare service with the Canadian airline. While you might have seen that our plans for starting our passenger codeshare agreement will be delayed due to several immediate revenue initiatives, our ability to offer International Cargo shipments utilizes different resources, technology, and Teams, and is not related to, or impacted by, our eventual passenger codeshare agreement. We know that your precious Cargo will be in good hands with our Canadian friends.
As we like to say in Cargo, “reliability knows no borders,” so ship away, eh!
