Southwest expands to Minneapolis
Written on October 4, 2008
DALLAS — Southwest Airlines Co. plans to begin service in March to Minneapolis, its first new city in more than a year, even as the airline faces a "very significant risk of slowing demand" due to an economic slowdown, Chief Executive Gary Kelly said Wednesday.
The Minneapolis service initially will be limited to flights to and from Chicago.
Minneapolis suburb Eagan, Minn., is the home of Northwest Airlines Corp., which is being acquired by Delta Air Lines Inc. Some experts say the combined airline probably will reduce flights at Minneapolis, but Kelly said the Delta-Northwest deal was not a consideration.
Other U.S. carriers have raised fares and sharply cut flights this fall, creating "tremendous opportunities for Southwest Airlines to expand," Kelly said.
Southwest serves more than 60 U.S. cities but has curtailed growth in recent years. Its last new city was San Francisco, in August last year.
The addition of Minneapolis for Southwest comes as airlines face high fuel prices and concern about a weakening economy. Kelly said he cannot tell yet but suspects that economic weakness — and higher fares — are hurting travel demand cheap payday loans. He said bookings are still healthy, but planes probably will be slightly less full this fall than a year ago.
Separately, Southwest said Wednesday that it would set aside priority security lanes for business-fare customers and frequent fliers at seven airports beginning next month. It’s similar to an announcement two weeks ago by American Airlines, which will add priority security screening and boarding for top customers.
Long considered an airline catering to leisure travelers, Southwest has been making a push for business travelers. Customers who buy more expensive "business select" tickets will qualify for the faster "fly by" security screening.
Southwest is the only major U.S. airline to remain profitable this year.
Southwest boasts in advertising that it foregoes the fees that other airlines charge, but it, too, is looking for new sources of revenue. The airline soon will begin testing Internet access in-flight and plans to charge for it. It also is boosting sales of alcohol by accepting credit cards instead of cash.
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