Southwest Airlines Adds Two New Cities, Including (A Return To) Fresno

In the second quarter of 2021 Southwest Airlines will launch service to Fresno and to Santa Barbara.

This isn’t the first time Southwest Airlines has sent planes to Fresno. After Southwest Airlines acquired Morris Air, that carrier briefly continued to fly to Fresno, however Southwest terminated service there before folding the acquired carrier into the larger airline. Southwest owned an airline that flew to Fresno before, but Southwest itself never has. (Several ex-Morris Air executives, not including JetBlue founder Dave Neeleman, believed in Fresno enough to launch charter flights from there to Vegas.)

Southwest has aggressively added destinations during the pandemic. Some, like Chicago O’Hare, because of a unique opportunity to gain access to an airport that was full prior to 2020. Others are leisure destinations where they’re seeking new revenue opportunities for planes that have nowhere to go.

Over the past couple of years Southwest growth has been constrained with the grounding of the MAX. They haven’t had the planes to add new destinations. Now they have a surplus of planes because they haven’t needed the frequencies they used to offer, especially on business routes between major cities. And with the end of ‘middle seat blocking’ on Southwest they have even less need to add incremental flights in those markets.

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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  1. As you look at the state of affairs by the big 3 airlines SWA looks more attractive. I’ve never cared for SWA as I like to know where I’m going to sit and so the few times I’ve flown them I’ve been happy to pay a little extra to get to board earlier. They seem to have managed this COVID ordeal better than most. Now that they are going to be at ORD it makes getting to Europe on BA or Qatar easier. I’ll have to take a closer look at them.

  2. The Fresno addition to Southwest routes adds welcomed competition with the three legacy carriers currently operating at FAT. Previous Southwest experiences have resulted in major fare reductions. Definitely, a plus for passengers!

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