PotomacApproach

WN always seems to hit a floor at a million annual enplanement airports, places like MHT or LIT. 1/2 million facilities like FSD or EUG just can't fill 737s reliably and frequently enough. This why they tend to get swept up with low frequency ULCC service.

Not many more places for WN to hit then in the CONUS. More frequencies or more places in the Caribbean or Hawaii. No chance they go to Canada where WS is already pushing down fares.

beyondhere

Me too - I'd like to see MDT-PIT maybe at 2 or 3x daily, MDT-MCO and MDT-BNA. Although WN isn't all that large in PIT, perhaps it could offer connections out of PIT as well. MDT-PIT would be a nice intra state route, which follows along WN's strategy elsewhere, although the cities aren't that large. But the MDT side has an Amtrak line that ends there and one can board and reach the Philly suburbs.

I also like the idea of TYS. If it served it, WN could eventually position itself as Tennessee's preferred airline, with it's large presence in BNA, and presence in MEM to go with it.

MDT and TYS were AirTran cities, but AFAIK, AirTran was only offering a couple of point to point routes to MCO and maybe FLL.

beyondhere

Spirit just announced service to RDU. I think that indirectly hurts GSO given how close the two are to each other.

Specifically, one of the new Spirit services is 2x daily on BWI-RDU. I'm not even sure how Spirit, Delta and Southwest will co-exist.. The route is drive-able to many traveling on leisure already, and leisure passengers south or west of DC aren't going to drive north to BWI to head back south for what could be a reasonable drive.

Obviously, Southwest will stay but it will likely be pressured to offer a lot of $49 WGA fares between BWI-RDU. And it needs people heading and originating in Greensboro to continue to use RDU. Not sure how Delta will last. Delta avoided BOS-BWI and just chose BOS-DCA. Maybe Spirit's end game is at least Delta drops out of RDU-BWI, but in the short term, I think Southwest will be triggered to offer a lot of discount fares and need as much volume as possible to use RDU as the gateway into the both Raleigh/Durham and Piedmond Triad.

LegalTender

+1

A more competitive horse race would be hard to find. RDU is on a roll.

worldwidedreamer

Emplanement? Anchorage has 2.5m, MSN has 917k, COS has 750k, BTV has 600k, FAI has 500k, ATW+GRB serve the same market with 500k, JAN has 491k, BIL has 400k,

WN flies to PNS 937k, ICT 783k, LBB 450k, AMA 331k, HRL 250k...

N830MH

I was hoping WN will considering FSD, COS, EYW, TLH, MLB, STT, PSE, BQN, BTV, SDQ, ANU, FPO, BDA, POS, SAP, MGA, MZT, PVR, HMO, MTY, BLI.

I hoping WN will orders A220-100 or A220-300 aircraft or E190-E2 or E175-E2. This is only for a few passengers capacity.

I hopefully they will eventually to orders 737-MAX10. This is only for higher passengers capacity.

darthbimmer

WN buying non-737 aircraft to serve smaller stations seems like a doubly bad proposition. For one, smaller stations are more costly to serve per passenger, so WN would earn smaller margins just from that. Two, WN enjoys widely reported cost efficiency from operating a 737-only fleet. Break that model and it'll further increase costs.

aWASFlyer

I hope they don't do this as it will increase cost for the consumers who use southwest. All boeing fleet will be better than mixing in airbus and embraer into their fleet.

Southwest does not operate Hub and spoke.

winston vickers

JAN was started when Trent Lott was Senate Leader and Wright Amendment was in place. He (Lott) wanted WN in JAN and overrode part of Wright and flights were set up to HOU, DAL and BWI. After the fall of Wright and Lott, JAN had poor load factors and fell by the wayside. SAV would fill in a gap between CHS And JAX. ANC has been talked about many times. I'd like to see JFK just for the simple fact of making some connections easier.

ehallison

Another vote for FAT! My husband drives to the Central Valley sometimes (from SoCal). Sometimes he flies, but then back-tracks, e.g.: fly to SMF, rent car, drive to Modesto. If he's just going as far north as Fresno, though, he drives. It doesn't make any sense to drive to LAX, park, take a bus to the terminal, then take the AA bus to the remote terminal so he can get on a tiny RJ - ugh. He hates that whole process.

I think Fresno is the largest city in the US that's not served by Southwest. I read it here on Flyertalk several years ago so it must be true.

scklumb

I vote for PSP (Palm Springs), a great leisure market.

Hot Pocket

Totally self serving, but I think they could do very well at SRQ. It's ~60 miles from TPA in one direction and ~90 miles from RSW in the other. Legacy fares outrageously high, and this has been noticed by Frontier and Allegiant (blech) who are expanding significantly. Even if WN came in with higher than normal fares, I could see them pulling significant market share.

LAX has its LGB, FLL has its PBI, I think TPA needs its SRQ

Peoriaman1

Its also the largest city in the US not on the Interstate Highway system. Oh, it has 99 and 15 or whatever the other one is, but they're not "I" highways. I-5 is further west in the valley.

I'd jump all over Southwest service into FAT. I've looked at flying there from Chicago, and all the choices involve one or often two plane changes, the last being a regional jet. And expensive! Sure I'd have to change planes on WN also but at least I won't have to downsize my gear to carry onboard like I would on a RJ. And with Southwest I won't have to fly out of O'Hare!

ATLflyer2017

How about they bring back the routes that AirTran used to serve out of Atlanta. I find it ridiculous that I can't fly to SFO nonstop. Also redeye's would be nice. I dont want to leave the west coast at 6 am and arrive at 7pm, etc.

3Cforme

True enough, but look at the cities they've added and dropped in the last 10 years. This isn't your Grandpa's Southwest Airlines.