What Ever Happened to SWA Going to Charlotte and Richmond?

[Harold]

Late last year there were many postings on this site about SWA opening up in Charlotte when gates became available after the US Air/America West merger. These gates ended up in JetBlue's hands, and there has been no mention of SWA in Charlotte since.
Back in '01, SWA openly planned to go in to Richmond. It's been 5 years and there has not been any mention of SWA revisiting Richmond.
Can anyone shed any information as to what's going on or what happened with Charlotte and Richmond with SWA?

 

[markkus757]

CLT became DEN

RIC became IAD

kind of like how ABE became PHL

Oh, BTW - Kelleher becoming Kelly might have a lot to do with those as well (as well as 9-11 and the prioce of fuel).

 

[jimntx]

Maybe SWA decided that UAL and not US was the wounded member of the herd who could be brought down without too much of a chase.

 

[Cosmo]

Maybe SWA decided that UAL and not US was the wounded member of the herd who could be brought down without too much of a chase.

As for RIC, it wouldn't surprise me if the folks at Southwest told the governor of Virginia that they would serve a whole lot more Virginia residents through IAD (in the northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, DC) than through RIC. And they would be right!

 

[Tanker]

Back in '01, SWA openly planned to go in to Richmond. It's been 5 years and there has not been any mention of SWA revisiting Richmond.
Can anyone shed any information as to what's going on or what happened with Charlotte and Richmond with SWA?

When SWA opened ORF Herb announced that SWA would go to RIC as soon as SWA had more gates at Chicago and New York. Well MDW has more gates now but ISP still only has 4. When they finally open the 4 new gates at ISP they will have to close the older gate at the new concourse so that the ramp can be torn up and redone. Who knows how long that will take? Having said that when Herb said New York we all thought ISP. Who knows maybe he really meant LGA or JFK. 😀

 

[superG]

Maybe SWA decided that UAL and not US was the wounded member of the herd who could be brought down without too much of a chase.

Well let's give WN a real chance and do a total repeal of the Wright Amendment... 😀

 

[700UW]

First of all US did not give up any gates in CLT because of the merger, Jetblue is using Gate D-6 which is a city owned gate which can be used by any airline, US uses the city owned gate on occasion when all the Carribean flights hit the ground in the afternoon/early evening.

 

[Harold]

There were many rumors about SWA moving into Allentown until PHL came along. Flights into ABE could grab more northern New Jersey business away from EWR, and there's 5-6 empty gates right now at ABE.

 

[JS]

As for CLT I happen to think there are other easier targets than a fortress hub of a revitalized legacy carrier.

IAD comes to mind frankly. ABE, GRR come to mind, If I'm attacking a legacy hub, MSP or CVG would seem to make sense and to a lesser extent MEM.

If they aren't going directly into ATL then BHM makes more sense than CLT. SYR and ROC make some sense if you want more east coast market penetration.

for SWA I'm not sure what CLT gets them.

Southwest already flies to BHM. Birmingham is a long way from Atlanta.

I've never understood why Southwest flies to DTW (and has for a long time) but not MSP or CVG.

SYR and ROC are non-starters because 1) JetBlue is already there and 2) JetBlue flew there to satisfy the state of NY to get JFK exemptions. If Southwest wants JFK exemptions, maybe they can offer ITH and ELM. Just kidding.

 

[CLT-Douglas]

Maybe Southwest will be coming to CLT after all. After talking about the new runway coming, the Charlotte observer mentions the expansion of terminal E. Originally this was to be expanded to a extra 24 regional jet gates. The plan is now different, and in my opinion smells like Southwest.

"In addition to the runway project, Charlotte/Douglas is currently extending Concourse E, adding six gates designed to handle jets as large as a Boeing 737. The gates will be city-controlled, meaning they will be available to any airline.

The airport is also extending the apron north to handle the jets. Both are scheduled to be finished in the summer or fall of 2007."
Article

 

[autofixer]

Funny...often while waiting in line for takeoff on 18L, I always joke about that construction north of terminal E and say, "are they building a new terminal for Southwest". I guess they might be.

Southwest beware, CLT is "Hillbilly Philly"! Delays galore, 160 knot 26 mile finals, long taxis.

 

[ClueByFour]

As for CLT I happen to think there are other easier targets than a fortress hub of a revitalized legacy carrier.

After the west coast and BWI, it sure sounds like the next logical step.

IAD comes to mind frankly. ABE, GRR come to mind, If I'm attacking a legacy hub, MSP or CVG would seem to make sense and to a lesser extent MEM.

IAD only makes more sense than CLT because of the population. I don't think LUV is somehow more afraid of US than they are of UA.

 

[CynicalResAgent]

I always wondered when WN will add service to ATL. It seems like one of the largest cities not serviced by them.... Although it is the epitome of congested delay prone fortress hubs and with FL servicing it I think WN is afraid to add service there.

 

[Harold]

A Supervisor in Guest Services at Midway told me last week that there won't be any new destination additions in the near future due to the expected overhaul of many routes and timetables because of the recent Wright Amendment changes. Several existing cities will have new destinations from the existing network, especially 1 stop servie to/from Love Field.

 

[citrus jock]

I always wondered when WN will add service to ATL. It seems like one of the largest cities not serviced by them.... Although it is the epitome of congested delay prone fortress hubs and with FL servicing it I think WN is afraid to add service there.

I don't think WN is "afraid" to add service to ATL, or any other place. There are many factors that figure into every airline's decision on new service, return on investment being a big one in today's environment. Each airline has a target ROI, based on their own financial health and liquid cash needs. If WN's (or any other airline's) required ROI can't be met in a new market, it won't (or shouldn't) go in. That's not "fear", it's common sense Business 101, something that WN seems to be consistantly good at.