As competition heats up, Southwest wants San Diego to know it's No. 1 airline - The San Diego Union-Tribune
"...While Southwest is known for its frequent use of advertising, this latest marketing initiative comes at a time when one of Southwest's biggest rivals in California — Alaska Airlines — has been making aggressive inroads both statewide and in San Diego.Southwest easily leads Alaska in the number of weekly flights in and out of San Diego — 700 vs. 272, according to the San Diego International Airport. But as of this month, each had 28 nonstop destinations. By this summer, Southwest will lead Alaska with five more destinations..."
"...In California, Southwest no doubt is feeling the pressure from Alaska Airlines’ aggressive expansion, especially since its acquisition of Virgin America, said airline analyst Henry Harteveldt. Southwest still has the advantage of free checked baggage and no change fees, but it has to be wary of its competition, he said.“Alaska poses one of the strongest competitors in San Diego that they’ve had in a long time, offering more nonstop destinations and competing on both price and product in California,” Harteveldt said. “Competitors are coming for its business and Southwest has to defend itself.”..."
Kelly continues to dangle the Hawaii carrot as launch date keeps moving to the right, in an effort to retain interest from loyalists, distract from competition. At SOME point, WN will have to fish or cut bait:
"...One destination Southwest is eager to start competing in is Hawaii. It announced last year its plan to start flying there, hopefully by the end of the year, but has offered no substantive updates since then.Southwest needs approval first from the Federal Aviation Administration to operate longer flights over the ocean, and Kelly said Thursday the airline is on track for that process, having recently submitted its application.He could not make any promises, though, that flights will in fact start by the end of the year, and it’s still unknown which California markets will initially get the nonstop service. What Kelly is more confident of is that Southwest will be selling tickets for Hawaii flights by the end of 2018.“There is a chance we could be flying by the end of the year and that will be our goal,” he said on the earnings call. “If we’re up and flying by the end of the year, I’ll be happy but if we don’t it won’t be the end of the world.”..."