Southwest Airlines, the leading carrier in the U.S. in most domestic passengers carried, announced on Wednesday that they plan on expanding to Minneapolis St. Paul. The move comes at a critical time for all airlines, as many have been reducing flights and cutting their route maps in attempt to save money. The service is expected to begin with limited flights from Chicago-Midway. Southwest CEO Gary Kelly said that the new route was not a result / planned due to the Northwest-Delta merger, which is expected to force the combined airline to cut routes out of Minneapolis St. Paul.
While airlines cut routes and try to save money, Southwest Airlines pursues those old routes. This creates “tremendous opportunities for Southwest Airlines to expand,” Kelly said. The Metropolitan Airports Commission, the owner of Minneapolis St. Paul, had been pursuing Southwest Airlines for quite some time. They hope to broaden the number of carriers that serve the airport, which may force Northwest / Delta Airlines to cut ticket prices out of the airport.
The next question is, where to next? Southwest has slowed their plan for growth this year. They have deferred a number of aircraft on order from the Boeing Company. 26 of the 737s ordered from Boeing may be in doubt, says Southwest Airlines CFO Laura Wright, as Boeing enters into its fourth week of machinist strikes. Personally, I believe that Southwest has great plans for northern U.S. I’d like to see them continue expansion out of Philadelphia, which has forced Philadelphia giant US Airways to lower prices significantly.
It will be all in the numbers. The third-quarter results for Southwest Airlines will be public on October 16th.
Image: flickr.com
