Southwest Airlines is making some more notable adjustments to its network.
This time, the Dallas-based airline is adding four routes to its winter schedule. Though the airline announced these flights as “new routes,” none are technically new since they’ve all been operated in recent years, according to TPG’s analysis of Cirium schedules.
Southwest’s added routes include:
- Miami to Columbus, Ohio (last operated in January 2022)
- Miami to Pittsburgh (last operated in April 2022)
- Chicago — specifically, Midway International Airport (MDW) — to Palm Springs, California (last operated in January 2022)
- West Palm Beach, Florida, to Providence (last operated in April 2023)
The four new routes will commence Jan. 7, 2025, and they are clearly aimed at transporting travelers from cold-weather cities to warmer pastures during the peak of winter. The new flights are already available to book.
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During the COVID-19 pandemic and immediately after its peak, this tried-and-true strategy of taking winter-weary, leisure-focused travelers to California and Florida proved very popular among U.S. airlines.
That said, in recent months, there’s been some softness in revenue and bookings to many of these popular leisure destinations due to overcapacity. As such, it’ll be interesting to see how Southwest fares in these markets during the upcoming winter season.
It’s not all good news for Southwest’s network or the airline’s flyers, though. Over the weekend, the airline filed plans to suspend 11 routes during the winter months, as first seen by TPG in Cirium schedules and later confirmed by a carrier spokesperson.
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Below is the full list of affected routes. Many of them have historically been operated once weekly.
- Atlanta to San Diego
- Chicago to Rochester, New York
- Dallas to Philadelphia
- Fort Lauderdale to Montego Bay, Jamaica
- Long Beach, California, to Colorado Springs, Colorado
- Miami to New Orleans
- Nashville to Oakland, California
- Nashville to San Jose, California
- Oakland to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
- Orlando to Chicago
- Orlando to El Paso, Texas
Southwest told TPG that these are “seasonal suspensions,” meaning that the airline plans to fly them again in the future. However, the airline hasn’t published any resumption dates, so we’ll have to monitor if the carrier follows through on its word.
“We’re always monitoring travel trends and adjusting schedules to support our Customers, Employees, and operations,” Southwest said in a statement about the suspensions.
Over the past few months, Southwest has made a slew of changes to its network focused on boosting profitability. It dropped four cities altogether: Bellingham, Washington; Cozumel, Mexico; Syracuse, New York; and Houston — specifically, George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH). It also exited six other routes.
Earlier this year, Southwest even cut a popular Hawaii route: Los Angeles to Maui.
The upside is that these cuts have allowed Southwest to find pockets of demand in other markets. The airline added 11 new routes in April and May, and it even unveiled a lengthy roster of one-off flights for the upcoming NFL season.
All of these network adjustments come as the airline is making monumental changes to the passenger experience. This month, Southwest announced that it would abandon its open seating policy in favor of assigned seats starting in the coming months.
Southwest will also install premium extra-legroom seats, and it’ll launch red-eye flights next year.
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