Southwest would have a great market in Bakersfield!

[Erik_R]

Hello,

I am staying in Bakersfield, CA, and will probably live here permanently.  It would be a drag to have to drive to LAX, take the train or pay for a ride, when I could just practically walk out of my front door and almost be at the airport in Bakersfield.  I believe that many travelers living in Kern and Tulare Counties would likely be very happy if Southwest began servicing BFL Airport.  With Bakersfield being a city with a population of just over 400,000 and growing, why not, when LAX is 122 driving miles away and Fresno is 120 miles?

[floridaguy]

Southwest is not going to add an airport just because someone finds it inconvenient to drive to the nearest airport.  Market dictates where Southwest serves.

Similar to the endless discussion about Knoxville TN, which didn't happen even after a multi-million dollar renovation of the old airport, Southwest did not join.

By voicing your concerns directly to Southwest, they will certain look at market conditions to justify whether joining that airport will make any sense economically.

[AshleyLangd]

This information is really good thanks for sharing with us. 

[SoCalFlyer97]

---

@Erik_R wrote:

Hello,

I am staying in Bakersfield, CA, and will probably live here permanently.  It would be a drag to have to drive to LAX, take the train or pay for a ride, when I could just practically walk out of my front door and almost be at the airport in Bakersfield.  I believe that many travelers living in Kern and Tulare Counties would likely be very happy if Southwest began servicing BFL Airport.  With Bakersfield being a city with a population of just over 400,000 and growing, why not, when LAX is 122 driving miles away and Fresno is 120 miles?

---

In my opinion, I think BFL could one day be a prime spot to introduce Southwest given that both American Airlines and United feed from this location and into their hubs. I checked the airport's website to see where one can go via BFL and found that American Airlines has flights that feed into its hub at PHX; from there, you can go to many places nonstop via Southwest including Chicago, DC and Florida. I also found it interesting that the airport's "Low Fares" page on their website returned American flights that included a connection at PHX via Frontier for several destinations including LAS and SAN...Enough said there.

I think having Southwest at BFL would be a great asset, even if BFL served as a through city. Since this forum is customer-to-customer, I would forward your suggestion directly to Southwest; I'm pretty sure there's other folks in Bakersfield who would like to see the same thing. Not sure of there's any present-day gate capacity limitations or expansion plans at BFL.

www.southwest.com/html/contact-us/

For now, I'm not sure whether a short-haul flight from BFL to American's hub at PHX with a separate booking via Southwest to your final destination would be feasible. I would explore this option further to see if this would work.  

[DancingDavidE]

---

@SoCalFlyer97 wrote:

---

@Erik_R wrote:

For now, I'm not sure whether a short-haul flight from BFL to American's hub at PHX with a separate booking via Southwest to your final destination would be feasible. I would explore this option further to see if this would work.  

---

With minor risks by swapping airlines I did this before flying to PHX and then US Airways to Flagstaff for a project. 

Using only carry-ons this would be a a snap to change gates airside. Minor inconvenience if you have checked bags and need to recheck and go through security - definitely invest in TSA Precheck in that case.

Especially if you are traveling light this can be a good option if the fares for the feeder flights are low. Certainly better than driving to LAX (through the whole metro?...no way)

Sometimes on the feeder routes it is $90 and sometimes it is $400 though, see what you can find. 

[Erik_R]

Thanks for the responses! I wrote to SW's customer service, and here is their reply. I'm sure it's a form letter in a file they can easily access, which is fine with me tbh:

"We're so glad that you enjoy Southwest Airlines’ low fares and heartfelt Hospitality. We appreciate your suggestion for Southwest to start serving Bakersfield, CA. We strive to be the hometown airline in every city we serve by offering low fares with no hidden fees and going above and beyond to make your day brighter. While we can’t make any promises to serve Bakersfield at this time, your request has been shared internally. We appreciate your patronage, and we hope to serve you onboard soon."

So if anyone here also likes this idea, you might consider writing to Southwest Airlines' customer service email so I'm not the only one:

https://support.southwest.com/email-us/s/

Erik.

---