Southwest Rapid Rewards - What % of the population is within an X hour drive of SWA destination?

I recall reading that a significant % (~50% ?)of the US population is now within a short (2 hours or less?) drive of a SWA destination.

Does anyone have specific figures? I'm debating with a friend and wanted the specifics.

Thanks.

I recall reading that a significant % (~50% ?)of the US population is now within a short (2 hours or less?) drive of a SWA destination.


I am! That's 1 yes, 0 no. =100% so far

If every airline was a cherry-picking airline like WN and B6, large geographic areas would have no airline service at all. Regional jets linked to mainline airlines are not fun to be on, but for many communities they would have nothing if that were taken away.

But i think 50% may be a bit understated - from a population standpoint, other than maybe Atlanta, i can't think of large population areas that are more than 2 hrs from a WN flight.

If every airline was a cherry-picking airline like WN and B6, large geographic areas would have no airline service at all. Regional jets linked to mainline airlines are not fun to be on, but for many communities they would have nothing if that were taken away.

But i think 50% may be a bit understated - from a population standpoint, other than maybe Atlanta, i can't think of large population areas that are more than 2 hrs from a WN flight.

BHM is 2 hours from Atlanta.

If every airline was a cherry-picking airline like WN and B6, large geographic areas would have no airline service at all. Regional jets linked to mainline airlines are not fun to be on, but for many communities they would have nothing if that were taken away.

But i think 50% may be a bit understated - from a population standpoint, other than maybe Atlanta, i can't think of large population areas that are more than 2 hrs from a WN flight.

Memphis is > 2 hrs to nearest WN flight.

Little Rock is nearest WN city - driving time per map quest = 2 hr 16m, driving time per exp., due to construction etc = 2 hr 30m+
Speed demons might make it in 2 hrs, but they shouldn't.

Nashville is 2nd nearest @ approx 3 hr 21 m.

Birmingham is 3rd @ approx 4 hr 15m.

Many MEM travelers drive to LIT & BNA for WN flights. So far, I haven't because the $ saved hasn't been great enough to compensate for my time, gas, & effort involved. The right deal will see me driving a few hours.

Minneapolis as well come to think about it is isolated. And Green Bay :)

I didn't realize how far away MEM is from WN-focused airports :eek:

As a large metro area in the heart of California, with a population of nearly 1 million, Fresno lies 2 to 3 hours from a Southwest city. It still pays to drive and stay overnight even than to fly out of Fresno.

Flying WN out of DTW, I'm always surprised by how far Michiganians will drive to fly WN.

I've been on flights recently with people from Grayling and Grand Rapids who fly WN out of DTW. NW offers mainline jets to GRR, LAN, MBS, etc. and RJ or turboprop to airports throughout northern Michigan, but people still drive 3,4,5 hours to fly WN from DTW.

Minneapolis as well come to think about it is isolated. And Green Bay :)

I didn't realize how far away MEM is from WN-focused airports :eek:

Yep, so close & yet so far away. I grumble when I see bargain WN fares ex. LIT & BNA ~ but the savings needs to be 'bigger bucks' for me to seriously consider the added hassle involved for 1 traveler. Of course, 2+ travelers would make dealing with the hassle more appealing.

Isn't there still a private van service to MEM for WN passengers?

If every airline was a cherry-picking airline like WN and B6, large geographic areas would have no airline service at all. Regional jets linked to mainline airlines are not fun to be on, but for many communities they would have nothing if that were taken away.

But i think 50% may be a bit understated - from a population standpoint, other than maybe Atlanta, i can't think of large population areas that are more than 2 hrs from a WN flight.

Why do rural areas deserve jet service? Is it written somewhere in the US constitution? :confused:

Personally I don't understand why we subsidize rural air service, rural telephone service, cable, etc. What do houses cost in Kansas? Probably about 1/5 of the cost of San Francisco, Los Angeles, etc. Not to mention far lower taxes, etc.

So as far as I'm concerned, you can pay double for airline service and still come out well ahead.

from a population standpoint, other than maybe Atlanta, i can't think of large population areas that are more than 2 hrs from a WN flight.

Don't forget Denver.

Isn't there still a private van service to MEM for WN passengers?

The Bette Bus quit operating.
I don't know exactly why, but suspect problems during last few years played a part~only my personal speculation the following played any part in the closing, I have no insider info. The 2 people I know who used the shuttle were pleased with service.
'02 accident during MEM-LIT run, resulting in pax death & lawsuit by pax's family.
'03 lawsuit by ADA since shuttles did not have wheelchair access. (excerpt below)

http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/janmar03.htm
U.S. v. The Bette Bus Shuttle, Inc. -- The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Tennessee filed a lawsuit against The Bette Bus Shuttle, Inc., a private provider of fixed route transportation between Memphis, Tennessee, and the airport at Little Rock, Arkansas. The U.S. Attorney had received a complaint alleging that Bette Bus does not provide wheelchair-accessible vans and that Bette Bus staff refused to allow the complainant to take her wheelchair with her on its inaccessible vans. The complainant, who has fibromyalgia and nerve damage and uses a wheelchair for full mobility, was required to travel without her wheelchair, severely limiting her ability to leave her hotel room. The Bette Bus owner acknowledged that the company had purchased at least six 15-passenger vans since 1990, none of which are lift-equipped, and that the company had never provided service to people with disabilities because it thought it was too expensive and would require medical personnel on board. The U.S. Attorney’s complaint seeks declaratory and injunctive relief, compensatory damages, and a civil penalty.

Why do rural areas deserve jet service? Is it written somewhere in the US constitution? :confused:

Personally I don't understand why we subsidize rural air service, rural telephone service, cable, etc. What do houses cost in Kansas? Probably about 1/5 of the cost of San Francisco, Los Angeles, etc. Not to mention far lower taxes, etc.

So as far as I'm concerned, you can pay double for airline service and still come out well ahead.

Why do metropolitan areas deserve wide urban freeways and rail and bus transit? Transportation is just one of those things that require some kind of assistance from government.

By the way, I do not know of any EAS cities that have jet service. Those are almost always served by 19-seater B1900 turboprops. It's expensive, infrequent (2 or 3 flights a day to just one hub), no flight attendant, no lavatory, no nothing other than a seat belt and a window. Oh, and you still get to deal with the stupidities of the TSA, only magnified because they have plenty of time to paw through your carry-on since they aren't at all busy. :mad:

While driving for three hours may be OK for people who live in rural areas, what if you live in a big city and want to visit a rural area? (business, vacation, visit relatives, whatever) It costs a lot more than just the gas to rent a car at a major airport and then drive for three hours each way, and if you can't drive, you double the ground travel time to a total of 12 hours for the trip for someone else to drive the three hours to the airport, pick you up, drive back, and repeat at the end of the trip.

If we had a decent rail system across the country, it wouldn't be necessary to subsidize air travel to small communities. However, the rail system is so old that it would cost much more to restore it, so EAS is the best option.

The only good thing about airline regulation was that service to small communities was good and reasonably priced. EAS is an attempt to hold to a little bit of that in today's environment.

Don't forget Denver.

Minneapolis is quite a distance as well, isn't it?

If you are asking what percentage of the U.S. population is within 2 hours of a Southwest city, I'm guessing it is well over 50%, probably in the 70+% range. When you look at the airports in the northeast where Southwest flies - ISP, PHL, BUF you have literally tens of millions of people within 2 hours. Then when you look at all the cities in California again you are looking at millions of people. Southwest probably has all or most of the states of Florida and Texas, again millions of people.

I know there are a lot of areas where Southwest doesn't fly, such as Minnesota, Colorado, Alaska, the Dakotas but there isn't as high a concentration of population. If you look at the election returns, to get close to 50% of the population you only needed to cover a few states entirely. If you have New York, Florida, Texas, California, Illinois, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Missouri you probably have 50% of the population, and Southwest has a good percentage of these states covered.

I remember cell phone companies used to play this game, where they would say they serviced 90% of the population of the United States. They could have no coverage in rural states and still make this claim.

Why do rural areas deserve jet service? Is it written somewhere in the US constitution? :confused:

Personally I don't understand why we subsidize rural air service, rural telephone service, cable, etc. What do houses cost in Kansas? Probably about 1/5 of the cost of San Francisco, Los Angeles, etc. Not to mention far lower taxes, etc.

So as far as I'm concerned, you can pay double for airline service and still come out well ahead.

I don't see where you got all this from my response. I was just saying that as much as we deride RJ service on many airlines, RJs are the only realistic option for many locales. There was no mention of government-funded air-travel.

hockey -

If he doesn't see the light, then you both get five for fighting.

http://www.swamedia.com/travel_center/routemap_dyn.html

Since SW flies out of ISP, BDL and PHL most of the NY area is within a 2 hour (non rush hour) drive from a SW airport. However, ISP and BDL basically service the suburbs. People who live in NYC are not likely to fly out of ISP or BDL nor are people looking to connect out of JFK or EWR likely to use SW.