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SWA staring service at IAH and ORD in 2021


Moby Ric

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Don't know if they are going after United but this going to piss them off.  SWA used to do alight or two out of IAH a while back, but stopped years ago.  Details of the routes are yet to be released. Also Terminal A is likely where they would gate from at IAH and that place is kinda crowded now.  

 

edit to add the link to the announcement.  

 

https://www.swamedia.com/releases/release-e0cd1d1fdd25e63bf17f0b5454129e7d-southwest-airlines-to-add-service-at-chicago-ohare-international-and-houston-george-bush-intercontinental-airport

Edited by Moby Ric
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Well having them operate at ORD is welcome news for my family and business travel purposes.  This of course assumes we still use airplanes in 2021.  

What about napkins in 2021?  Or is this whole mouth vacuum thing for real? 

I'm assuming they'll get 3-4 gates to start with in Terminal 3 (1 & 2 won't let them in with UAL & AAL) & Terminal 5 is all international.  I don't know where else there'd be room for them unless O'Hare finally reveals what happened to the mysterious Terminal 4 all those years ago.  

Sun-Times reporting service to begin "mid-2021", so I'm taking that to mean summertime travel, which is when we may be back to some semblance of normal.  I know there lots of cities ahead of Austin on that pecking order, but I hope there's at least a direct option within the first year, if not a non-stop.  

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I could see that, then maybe Terminal 2 it is after all for SWA.  
Great Chicago political play for American since they were a big reason that whole western cargo expansion went on was because of them.  

AAL: "Yeah, us and a few other carriers need more capacity for cargo since the margins are better than carrying people.  Build us a new 10C and/or 10R runway or we'll just run this shit through DFW and Sky Harbor."  

Chicago:  "We can't do that, you gotta help with construction costs."  

AAL:  "We'll kick back 10% on our cargo if you foot the whole build."  

Chicago:  "We break ground tomorrow."  

Anyway, kudos to Southwest for weathering this shitty year and looking towards the future.  

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Back in the day, there was an unspoken "agreement" between WN and CO that WN wouldn't go into IAH and CO wouldn't go into DAL.  It's apparent that this agreement has gone by the wayside.

I do think this reflects the increasing suburbanization of those cities, and the change of the character of the suburbs from merely places where people who work in Houston/Chicago live to places that people work and live in without ever going into Houston/Chicago.

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1 hour ago, futureman said:

too many acronyms. 

an airline (southwest) that basically owns the second airport in both houston and chicago will be starting service in the primary airport in each city. 

Edited by elfenix
cut my finger and now can't type for shit
  • Hook 'Em 1
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RIP MDW 
(soonish)

I don’t think so at all. There are two problems with MDW from WN’s standpoint: 1) the runways are too short to serve a number of destinations with a fully loaded 738 and 2) they’re at capacity given the limited number of gates.

Moving into ORD helps with both.


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Well having them operate at ORD is welcome news for my family and business travel purposes.  This of course assumes we still use airplanes in 2021.  
What about napkins in 2021?  Or is this whole mouth vacuum thing for real? 
I'm assuming they'll get 3-4 gates to start with in Terminal 3 (1 & 2 won't let them in with UAL & AAL) & Terminal 5 is all international.  I don't know where else there'd be room for them unless O'Hare finally reveals what happened to the mysterious Terminal 4 all those years ago.  
Sun-Times reporting service to begin "mid-2021", so I'm taking that to mean summertime travel, which is when we may be back to some semblance of normal.  I know there lots of cities ahead of Austin on that pecking order, but I hope there's at least a direct option within the first year, if not a non-stop.  

AA=Term 3
UA= Term 1

So, looks like Term 2 with Delta and the others.
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I wouldn’t expect a lot from ORD or IAH. This isn’t the first time SWA has operated from IAH. It’ll probably be a gate or two at each spot vs 28 gates at Hobby and 32 at MDW. Probably just a few longer routes that can’t be done off the short runways and a few more key routes to feed those. Neither will be a huge operation. I don’t know though. Just my guess. 

SWA also recently announced service into Miami, Palm Springs, Montrose (it’s kind of a stretch to call that Telluride, but hey..) and Steamboat.  
 

Next big growth push will be South America. Not for a while, but probably in the next decade. IAH’s long runways help with that. 

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12 hours ago, Ghost of LL said:

Back in the day, there was an unspoken "agreement" between WN and CO that WN wouldn't go into IAH and CO wouldn't go into DAL.  It's apparent that this agreement has gone by the wayside.

I do think this reflects the increasing suburbanization of those cities, and the change of the character of the suburbs from merely places where people who work in Houston/Chicago live to places that people work and live in without ever going into Houston/Chicago.

Southwest had flights at IAH from 1980-2005 (basically DAL-only in the later years). 

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59 minutes ago, The Ace of Aces said:

Southwest had flights at IAH from 1980-2005 (basically DAL-only in the later years). 

I think it was only ever to DAL.  I remember it well--those flights went out of Gate 2 at DAL.

That was needed keep the agreement in place.  Southwest had two gates at IAH, and you generally have to use gates or you forfeit them.  The way Southwest kept those gates was by fling to DAL, which CO didn't really care about.

But that way, if CO ever started service to DAL, WN could quickly expand its operation at IAH.

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2 hours ago, Ghost of LL said:

I think it was only ever to DAL.  I remember it well--those flights went out of Gate 2 at DAL.

That was needed keep the agreement in place.  Southwest had two gates at IAH, and you generally have to use gates or you forfeit them.  The way Southwest kept those gates was by fling to DAL, which CO didn't really care about.

But that way, if CO ever started service to DAL, WN could quickly expand its operation at IAH.

I thought they in the mid 90s were flying to SAT and AUS from IAH but I can't find a good timetable and I could totally be mistaken. 

Still, this move makes me happy because from BWI I can now fly to the north side of Houston to see family instead of having to fly into HOU and drive for-fucking-ever through that God-forsaken place. 

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12 minutes ago, The Ace of Aces said:

I thought they in the mid 90s were flying to SAT and AUS from IAH but I can't find a good timetable and I could totally be mistaken. 

I don't remember that.  Your memory may be better than mine.  But I'm reasonably certain it was only IAH to DAL from the late 80s onward.

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1 hour ago, DaysOff said:

They're run by a drunk that still believes in that tried and true airline philosophy that never works of shrink to profitability.

They have started a full retreat yet, just my belief it's where they are headed.

Avatar checks out.  

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18 hours ago, Ghost of LL said:

I don't remember that.  Your memory may be better than mine.  But I'm reasonably certain it was only IAH to DAL from the late 80s onward.

Mid 90s I’m pretty sure SWA had a IAH-Tulsa flight supporting all the oil business travel. My grandfather used to drive down to Tulsa to take it to visit. I also remember it stopped by ‘97 or ‘98 and he had to switch to CO. 

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1 hour ago, Murfdogg21 said:

Mid 90s I’m pretty sure SWA had a IAH-Tulsa flight supporting all the oil business travel. My grandfather used to drive down to Tulsa to take it to visit. I also remember it stopped by ‘97 or ‘98 and he had to switch to CO. 

I am reasonably certain that was a one-stop through DAL.  You didn't have to get off the plane (and in those days, Southwest's turnaround time was only 20-25 minutes), but you definitely stopped in Dallas.

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On 10/14/2020 at 7:43 AM, Murfdogg21 said:

I luv the facelift they’ve given Hobby the past 10+ years, but would probably fly them more out of IAH depending on flight routes. Will they be able to steal the north Houston suburbanite business from UA, AA, and Delta without cannibalizing their current Hobby business?

As someone that lives in The Woodlands area, there is a zero percent chance I would drive to Hobby for a flight.

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  • 5 weeks later...
On 10/15/2020 at 8:47 PM, Hate said:

As someone that lives in The Woodlands area, there is a zero percent chance I would drive to Hobby for a flight.

Yep, unless we were saving $$$ on a flight or it was the only one available for our particular needs; we didn't go to Hobby.  The airport was fine.  The drive to get back home could be just an assbeating, depending upon the time of day.

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Southwest serves other cities that similar or closer distance as IAH to HOU (30 miles).
Miami and Ft. Lauderdale - 27 miles
San Francisco and Oakland - 31 miles
San Francisco and San Jose - 31 miles
DC-Reagan and DC Dulles - 31 miles
LAX and Long Beach - 22 miles
LAX and John Wayne -41 miles 

Bernard
 

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  • 4 weeks later...

From Southwest press release yesterday:

Starting April 12, 2021, Southwest Customers will be able to fly between Houston (Bush) and five destinations nonstop: Chicago (Midway), Dallas (Love Field), Denver, Nashville, and New Orleans.

 

Looks like a total of 18 flights per day with DAL getting 6 and MSY getting 4 per day.

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6 minutes ago, royiv said:

From Southwest press release yesterday:

Starting April 12, 2021, Southwest Customers will be able to fly between Houston (Bush) and five destinations nonstop: Chicago (Midway), Dallas (Love Field), Denver, Nashville, and New Orleans.

 

Looks like a total of 18 flights per day with DAL getting 6 and MSY getting 4 per day.

it's beautiful randy marsh GIF by South Park

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