And Southwest is strong enough that it doesn’t have to worry about retaliation from the others.īased on the current schedule, Southwest does not have a schedule advantage versus United or American in any of these markets except against American to Denver. If you’re going to go into a market with competition, you need to go in pretty big on frequency. With twenty flights a day, this is a pretty heavy schedule, and it shows that Southwest isn’t stupid. Maps generated by the Great Circle Mapper – copyright © Karl L. Service begins on Valentine’s Day as follows, and again, it’s a hub-and-spoke play. It was only a couple weeks ago that Southwest announced it would go into O’Hare, and now we have the full schedule. Maybe it really is a political move, but the increasing hub utility means cities like this can potentially work in this environment, even if there is no real growth in the market. It’s just going to have a lot more connections onboard, and that’s ok. With more flights feeding those hubs from other places, there is more of an opportunity for Southwest to carry a higher percent of Jackson’s traffic than before. I’d look for Dallas (which couldn’t offer connections before thanks to the Wright Amendment) and/or Houston, Nashville, Atlanta, and possibly further afield to another hub. With more connections, Southwest is highly unlikely to resume the Orlando flight. That being said, Southwest is a different airline now, so there could be a slight commercial opportunity. So, well, I don’t think there’s much here for Southwest to get excited about. Traffic has declined while fare has gone up. Jackson (MS) Domestic Traffic and Fare by Year Just because it’s politically expedient, however, doesn’t mean it can’t make sense commercially too. Wicker has been pushing for more airline aid, sponsoring the last bill to extend CARES for the airlines. Roger Wicker (MS-R) succeeded Trent Lott in 2007, and in the current Congress, he ascended to the throne as chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. He resigned from the Senate in 2007, and Southwest - not one to want to leave a city nor show any tinge of impropriety - hung on until 2014 before it left due to the weak demand that was always there.ĭoes that mean that Southwest is now returning because the commercial situation has changed? Well, the cynical me says it’s again about politics. The general belief is that Southwest went into Jackson to curry favor with the Senator. Lott was an influential member who at one time chaired the aviation subcommittee in the Senate. You see, Trent Lott (MS-R) was a long-time US Senator and former majority leader who stepped back after a scandal. Of course, that probably wasn’t the plan anyway. That thin schedule was a pure leisure play for Orlando with limited connecting opportunities through the other cities. In the last few years while it was there, Southwest flew once or twice a day to Baltimore, twice or thrice daily to Houston, once daily to Orlando, and once or twice daily to Chicago. For that reason, we can see how Southwest used to serve the market. We don’t know the schedule for Jackson just yet, but it does hold the dubious distinction of being one of the only cities Southwest has ever left. So, let’s dive into Jackson, Chicago/O’Hare, and Colorado Springs. While many of Southwest’s new cities - including Savannah - fall into a standard pattern (heavy leisure, primary airports, etc), three of these are worth a closer look. Oh sure, it’s not in a traditional way, but it sure is the basis for how Southwest is bringing new dots on to its route map. With every announcement, Southwest begins to look more and more like a hub-and-spoke carrier. Then just yesterday, it published schedules for Colorado Springs and Chicago/O’Hare. While I was traveling last week, Southwest announced Savannah, Jackson (MS), and Colorado Springs. For an airline that hasn’t rolled out many new cities in some time, Southwest sure is active these days.
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