Southwest Airlines Reveals Philadelphia Service; Carrier Announces Nonstop Destinations From Its Newest City
Thursday December 11, 10:00 am ET
DALLAS, Dec. 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Southwest whetted bargain travelers' appetites today by revealing that its Philadelphia service will begin May 9, 2004, with daily nonstop service to Chicago Midway, Las Vegas, Orlando, Phoenix, Providence, and Tampa Bay. The accompanying fares and direct and connecting service to other cities nationwide will be announced later.
"Announcing our entry into Philadelphia was just the appetizer, and the destinations are the entree," said Joyce Rogge, Southwest's senior vice president of marketing. "Just wait until you see our fares -- you'll want to save room for dessert!"
Customers can expect a healthy serving of fares that are drastically lower than those already offered by other airlines, even at the last minute. It's well known that Southwest caps its last minute fares at $299 one-way -- a great deal, for example, on Southwest's transcontinental flights. This unrestricted walkup fare is the most Customers will pay on Southwest. Even lower walkup fares are available on Southwest's short and medium haul flights. Fares do not include a federal segment tax of up to $3 per takeoff and landing. Fares also do not include airport-assessed passenger facility charges up to $4.50 one-way or a government-imposed September 11th Security Fee of up to $5.00 one-way.
Southwest Airlines' website, southwest.com, is not only easy to use, but it offers some of the lowest fares online. In 1995, Southwest launched the first web site in the airline industry. Today, southwest.com is considered the largest airline web site and ranks as one of the largest e-commerce sites with the likes of Amazon.com.
In recent months, Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV - News) has become the nation's largest domestic carrier in terms of Customers boarded. Based in Dallas, Southwest currently operates 2,800 flights a day with a fleet of 387 Boeing 737s with an average age of 9 1/2 years -- one of the youngest pure jet fleets in the domestic airline industry.