Must-know: Southwest’s airport development initiatives and network expansion
Southwest Airlines – second quarter earnings overview (Part 3 of 12)
Modernization and development of airports
Southwest is involved in the management of various airport development initiatives. Few of them include
Southwest entered into an agreement with Broward Country, Florida in 2013 to manage the Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International airport’s Terminal 1 modernization project.
Entered into an agreement with city of Houston to expand the Houston Hobby airport in 2012.
Agreed to manage the Terminal 1 modernization project of Los Angeles International Airport.
Southwest is also managing the project to renovate the Love Field airport in the city of Dallas. This project is expected to complete by end of 2014.
Network expansion during 2Q14
During 2Q14, Southwest has added new routes to its domestic network and launched new routes to international destinations as well. The launch of international operations is a new milestone for Southwest and this was enabled by the acquisition of AirTrans which operated in international locations.
The following were few of the initiatives taken by the company to enhance its network coverage:
Announced addition of new non-stop service at Washington Reagan National airport that is scheduled to start from November. The 27 additional daily roundtrip flights added after the acquisition of 54 slots at the airport are expected to increase daily departures from 17 to 44 by the end of the year. These slots were divested when American Airlines merged with U.S. Airways in December 2013. (For more details on the slot sale refer the article on Why the American and U.S. Airways merger was conditional)
At Dallas Love Feld, the company plans to add seven new nonstop routes starting in October and eight nonstop routes starting in November after the federal flight restrictions at Love Field come to an end on October 13 th , 2014.
The acquisition of AirTrans enabled Southwest to launch its first international service during the second quarter. International operations started with services to Aruba, Nassau and Montego Bay on July 1 st 2014. Services to Cabo San Lucas and Cancun started in August as scheduled and flights to Mexico City and Punta Cana is planned for November.
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