Thanks Brie for your reply, I would think if Southwest Airlines desired to maintain their excellent position as California's most prefered, most loved airline, while battling it out with Alaska, United and Delta in this competetive environment that opening a few more California markets like Fresno, Palm Springs and Santa Barbara makes good business sense. Those airlines mentioned offer service to many more California airports. The cities mentioned have large population areas that are business and tourist destinations too far to drive to catch a Southwest flight (when they have an airport nearby) that would welcome the service and would happily get the Southwest Visa and be loyal customers. Fresno is the closest airport to 3 of the top National Parks in America, Yosemite, Kings Canyon and Sequoia. It's the 5th largest city in California and largest Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) in the United States, behind only Honolulu, without Southwest Airlines service. There are quite a few small market cities that you all operate to with only 3-7 flights a day that appear to be successful and in my opinion you have more opportunities in California. The reason the historical loads are low in Fresno is due to high fares, limited flights, no low fare airline presence. If you want to see "The Southwest Effect" again, I would recommend reconsidering service to Fresno. Thanks for sharing my comments with your system analysts. Much regards!
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