Southwest Airlines Community

@brettmic wrote: I agree! I woke up this morning to both of our nonstop flights going to and coming back from Vegas being changed by 3 hours each in June. The times are extremely inconvenient but there are no other nonstop options. The other options (1 stop) jumped in price from 4:.30 this morning to now (8:30am). Unbelievable! I checked Midway and they are also unbelievably expensive for the time we need to go. Also Midway is not a good option for us to fly out of. I know someone is going to suggest MKE but again, prices are ridiculous. Southwest is currently not our friend!! I believe most airlines have a clause where if your flight time gets changed by the airline, you can change to a better (more convenient) option free of charge even if there’s a price difference.  Also, Southwest only recently started to serve ORD and really only as a competitive move against larger carriers and maybe to tap into the market on that side of Chicago. MDW will always be Southwest’s primary Chicago airport because if United or American sense SWA encroaching on their turf, you better believe they’ll do their best to squash them.  Airlines don’t aim to be everyone’s friend. They offer a product (seats, service, route network, lounges) and people choose what suits their need best.  Is there viable expansion opportunities for SWA at ORD? Maybe. But at the end of the day, you choose the product that serves your needs best and it doesn’t have to be Southwest. Since I’m in Charlotte now instead of Denver, I find myself flying American more because their product fits my needs more often than Southwest.  ... View more

I just flew Southwest CLT to HOU during Christmas time. The flights are there, they just may be on weekends and peak season only. I just checked the flight schedules and it appears to be weekend and peak season service only right now.   Feel free to make your request for more frequent flights by using the Contact Us link below as this is a customer to customer forum. ... View more

As someone who follows Southwest's route network changed as best as I can, I would agree that it appears that Seattle has been downsized. But Southwest is extremely unlikely to be pulling out of Seattle entirely. It's likely that the competition with both Alaska and Delta has been tough and they've decided to put their limited planes on other more profitable routes. Southwest is still rebuilding post pandemic and with a slew of new airports to the network, they're trying to mature those markets while rebuild. In doing so, they try to put the planes where they will be most profitable. It'll probably take some time, but I think it's likely Southwest will add frequencies back to Seattle once they have the resources and it makes sense for their own profitability.  ... View more

I'm biased toward DEN because I grew up there, but the new renovations are looking nice!   Anyway, I currently have a mission to fly to or connect through SWA's largest airports, so far my favorites apart from DEN are DAL and BNA. I wasn't a fan of HOU when I went through there this past Christmas, but maybe that's because I was in the international gates area and felt far removed from the happenings of the airport. I have yet to try out AUS, BWI, LAS, FLL, MCI, MCO, OAK, SJC, SMF, STL, TPA - clearly I have a long ways to go. Not to mention, it's been awhile since I've been to both LAX and SAN.  ... View more

I'm still wondering if SWA is going to compete with Frontier and United and add nonstop service between Denver and Montego Bay. Since both have added that service, I keep thinking that SWA would want to get in on that action, but so far it hasn't been announced. Maybe they'll announce on the 21st for this coming winter? Who knows. ... View more

@JerseyDevil wrote: Anyone know when the balance of November will open up. Trying book a flight at the end of October with a Return 11/3. And of course, bookings stop 11/2. Southwest indicates this on their Flight Schedules page:   "We are currently accepting air reservations through November 2, 2024. On March 21, 2024, we will open our schedule for sale through January 6, 2025. This date is subject to change! Please check back frequently." ... View more

@floridaguy wrote: there are far many other airports where we, as shareholders, can do better financially. I’m kind of curious of the airports you have in mind. I’d like to compare it with my list of where I think would be good opportunities for Southwest.  ... View more

@John_Ocampos wrote: Hello everyone, I'm new to the forum and just came across this thread about the updated Southwest airport codes. As someone who frequently travels with Southwest, staying updated on any changes, including airport codes, is incredibly important for planning trips and ensuring a smooth travel experience.   Additionally, if there have been any significant changes or additions that could affect travel plans, such as new destinations or removed routes, I'd love to learn more about those as well. Understanding the logistics behind these updates can also provide insights into Southwest's operational focus and future direction, which is fascinating. I'm confused on what you mean by updated airport codes because usually those don't change. Now, the airports that Southwest serves can change if that's what you mean.   Here are some quizzes to learn some airport codes (not limited to Southwest): https://www.jetpunk.com/tags/airport-code   You can also go to Southwest's route map in list view and it shows all the airport codes next to the city.  https://www.southwest.com/route-map-list-view/?clk=RTMAPLIST   I follow https://swamedia.com/ to stay updated on route changes and additions. Also, their flight schedules page shows when their next schedule release is.  https://www.southwest.com/air/flight-schedules/?clk=GSUBNAV-AIR-SCHEDULES ... View more

I just chose a random week in June (the week of the 9th) and there was a nonstop offered on Sunday and Saturday. I didn't go back to when the flights started for the season, but my guess would be June 8th based on when a lot of other seasonal flights are starting or resuming.  ... View more

@SoCalFlyer97 wrote: The next morning, cross the border and go to TIJ airport and travel to MID via Volaris. This leg would be a Mexican domestic flight which would save you some good money. This also works going the other way. I would also contact Volaris and request some additional non-stop flights in between TIJ and MID. I would clarify here that the Tijuana airport has a bridge to the US. So you can park in the US and cross the bridge for the flight rather than having to wait for hours in traffic to drive across the border. It's called Cross Border Xpress located at 2745 Otay Pacific Drive in San Diego, CA.  I believe there is a fee, but I thing it's worth it. ... View more

@floridaguy wrote: Bruh, this whole discussion came up a few months ago and I took it on as a research project.  At that time, Southwest had NO INTEREST in Knoxville and I even spoke, at length, with the general manager of McGhee Tyson airport.     Despite tossing millions of dollars into renovation, Southwest shrugged and walked away.   No Knoxville in the near future.  Not busy enough and not enough traffic. I would agree with you that Knoxville likely isn't in the near future. Southwest has added plenty of new markets that they need to build upon and continue evaluating routes they served prior to the pandemic. Things change frequently in the airline industry, so we never know.    I commend you for doing research, I do as well, but because we have no way to verify all the information that some of us may provide, we cannot say anything with 100% certainty. I'm perfectly fine with you explaining why Knoxville may not be in the cards for Southwest, but please don't use objective statements, that's all I'm asking. ... View more

@floridaguy wrote: Southwest has no interest in Lincoln NE.   Once again, you have no evidence of that. Let people make their suggestions. Feel free to provide subjective feedback, but please do not share these seemingly objective statements. ... View more

@floridaguy wrote: This subject has been previously discussed.  Southwest currently has NO INTEREST in Knoxville.  While the Great Smoky Mountain National Park might be the most visited, it is done so by people within a couple hundred mile radius.     Even after the Knoxville airport spent MILLIONS in renovations trying to lure Southwest, they said "meh" and moved on.   No Southwest for Knoxville in the future plans, as of now.   Bruh, you don't work for Southwest. Stop making these replies like it's the objective truth. I don't see any official statement from Southwest indicating they will never serve Knoxville. Chill out and let people share their SUBJECTIVE thoughts and experiences. If they want Southwest to fly to Knoxville, they have the freedom to say so. You also have freedom to give your SUBJECTIVE feedback on why you think it won't happen. But please, DO NOT leave replies rejecting suggestions as if you have the OBJECTIVE truth because you don't. Southwest is constantly evaluating the market and if there's enough demand, they'll likely add the route or new city, even if that city is Knoxville. Why are you so vehemently against Knoxville service by Southwest anyway? ... View more

Since Southwest is officially making Nashville a crew base this year, there may actually be capacity for them to add flights to Knoxville. All of Southwest's "shuttle" flights are from crew bases, so maybe they've been holding off. It may not be immediate, but maybe within 5 years. It's been requested so many times, I don't see why they wouldn't. There are crew and plane scheduling restraints which would have make sense, but as I said with Nashville coming online as a crew base, those restraints should be alleviated. I could definitely see service to Nashville, Baltimore, maybe Chicago. Then possible seasonal service to Dallas or Denver. ... View more

From a business model perspective, I'm not sure if Lincoln works. Southwest has historically been a point-to-point carrier. Their business model has kind of shifted to where each airport essentially needs to have at least one point to point route and one connecting route.   Example(s): Steamboat Springs, CO is served by Denver, Dallas and Nashville where Dallas and Nashville are the point-to-point routes and Denver is the connecting option. Syracuse, NY is served by Baltimore, Orlando and Tampa where Orlando and Tampa are the point-to-point routes and Baltimore is the connecting option.   I feel that with Lincoln would still be overshadowed by Omaha and there wouldn't be any significant point-to-point option. If anything, maybe service to Denver and St. Louis. If there was enough seasonal demand for a nonstop route to Las Vegas or Phoenix then it could be more likely.    Southwest did say at one point there were 50 potential airports they could add. Since then, they've added several, which would drop this figure into the 30's. Anyway, keep letting them know by commenting on Social Media and using the "Contact Us" below as stated already. ... View more

Yea, I've been wondering that too. I'm wondering if it was because of the JetBlue/American Northeast alliance and they just couldn't compete. Now that the alliance was broken by a federal judge, maybe the flights could come back? For now, there's Tampa and then one-stop options.   Anyway, this is a customer to customer forum. Try clicking on the "Contact Us" button below and submitting a request. You can also leave comments on Social Media posts as well. ... View more

Feel free to use click the "Contact Us" below and make your suggestion as this is a customer to customer forum. You can also leave comments on social media posts on Facebook or Instagram.    I personally think Southwest could make Burlington work with daily flights to Baltimore as well as a nonstop to Orlando. That said, I believe there are other cities more likely to see Southwest service before Burlington does.  ... View more

Tampa has sizable Southwest operations for sure, so in some sense it's a focus city, but it's not an official operating base for Southwest. See this press release from SWA Media: https://swamedia.com/releases/nashville-crew-base?lang=en-US   Airports with significant Southwest presence not shown would be Austin, Fort Lauderdale, Kansas City, St. Lous, and Tampa. Honorable mentions would be Burbank, Columbus, Long Beach, New Orleans, San Antonio, San Diego   So is Tampa a focus city? Kind of, but not officially. I say this because Southwest claims to not have hubs as in a hub and spoke model and call all of their operating bases "focus cities" of which Tampa is not one of those. ... View more

I'm back, it's all working now. Thank you to everyone who helped in getting my account back up and running! ... View more

I've was honestly always surprised that SWA didn't have a nonstop between Little Rock and Chicago Midway. Now that I look at a map, I see St. Louis is a better connection point than MDW because it's less out of the way for...say a flight to MCI or OMA. I do wonder if they could do a Sunday-Friday or Monday-Friday service between LIT and MDW.   ... View more

@floridaguy wrote: I like things the way they are.     No more airports to the list, please. The market is going to do what the market does. I don't self-driving vehicles and am perfectly fine with the way the vehicle market is, but my opinion isn't going to change anything there. Just like your and all of our opinions on the airports Southwest serves. We can dream all we want that Southwest will add airports or stay the same, but they're going to do what the follow market and where people want to fly. Heck, it's actually for benefit for Southwest to add more airports to their network (when they have the capacity at least). They probably won't be adding new airports for several years due to the number they added during the pandemic recovery. Though I did hear talks of them adding Kingston, Jamaica, which again, may not come to fruition for several years. Some airports are realistic additions for Southwest, others are not, what we should not hope for is that Southwest doesn't evolve to the market.   Andrew E DEN (CLT) Based | Aviation Enthusiast | Full of Passion for Southwest ... View more

If you ever have a tight connection, no matter the airline, it's always helpful to tell the flight attendants because the flight crew can contact ground and see if they can hold the flight. I know they'll hold a flight for large groups, probably not just one person, but it's always helpful to let them know as well as letting passengers around you know. It's not really fair to get mad if you don't let the people around you know that you have a tight connection.   Andrew E DEN (CLT) Based | Aviation Enthusiast | Full of Passion for Southwest ... View more

@floridaguy wrote: Did you read the above post?   Anywhere in Florida is at most about five hours from MCO and the total time to prepare and experience the flight is the same amount of time.   Southwest doesn't see people flying short distances when if you drove, you'd already be there.   🙄 I read the post and Pensacola to Orlando is a 6h40m drive thank you very much. That means the panhandle to South Florida is much longer. At the very least Southwest should offer flights from, FLL to the panhandle. And drive time isn't the whole issue either, some short flights are for connections (Colorado Springs-Denver, Kansas City to St. Louis is also under 5 hours). This would provide people in the panhandle with better options to the Caribbean so they don't have to go up to Atlanta on Delta or use American going through Miami. There are more reasons than to just avoid driving.  🙄   Andrew E DEN (CLT) Based | Aviation Enthusiast | Full of Passion for Southwest ... View more

I believe Southwest used to have 4-5 gates at Minneapolis from my memory of flying in to MSP to see my grandparents, but has now been reduced to 3 gates as Sun Country reworked their model and has dramatically increased their service offerings and the airport  pushed/added airlines to the Humphrey terminal (Frontier, JetBlue, Icelandair, Condor, Allegiant). Because of this, I think Southwest has had to decrease their service and limit offerings to their more profitable routes out of MSP. I could be mistaken, but I think that's what happened.    Andrew E DEN (CLT) Based | Aviation Enthusiast | Full of Passion for Southwest ... View more

@dfwskier wrote: Actually, several airlines stopped Mexico City service.   I believe the motivating factor was that most people flying the route were coming from the US. As I understand it, there were few passengers that originated in Mexico.   Thus it was difficult to get enough passenger to have the route make sense. I think it was actually the other way around. The routes between Mexico City and the US have more demand to the US than to Mexico City, so US based carriers have struggled as the locals opt for Mexican carriers. As for Southwest, their booking system can't take international currency which is why they only fly to destinations in Mexico that have heavy demand from the US for leisure travel.   Andrew E DEN (CLT) Based | Aviation Enthusiast | Full of Passion for Southwest ... View more

I personally would rather be delayed 5 hours than be on an unsafe flight due to weather or maintenance issues. Now sometimes it may not appear to be ones of those, but often it is because of Southwest's network. If the plane scheduled to operate your flight gets delayed at some point during the day due to weather or maintenance, it affects the rest of the schedule. So although the weather may be clear, the delays are often still related to weather. Delays affect all airlines, not just Southwest, though Southwest gets affected a little more uniquely due to how they do their schedules. Maybe Southwest needs better flight recovery as far as moving the flight to a different aircraft.    But yes, as others have said, use the contact us link below to work on getting compensated for the delays.   Andrew E DEN (CLT) Based | Aviation Enthusiast | Full of Passion for Southwest ... View more