Southwest adds seasonal flights to two Florida cities, roundtrip football flights

C. A. Bridges and Cheryl McCloud, USA TODAY NETWORK - Florida
·2 min read

It's been a busy week for airline news in Florida.

Avelo announced it was adding nine new Florida flights at three different airports in the Sunshine State, and would be making Lakeland International Airport, LAL, the airline's Central Florida base. The airline JetBlue said it would be adding new routes to Florida even as it unexpectedly yanked nonstop service from Tallahassee to Fort Lauderdale and filed a lawsuit claiming Florida made the airline pay too much in taxes.

And Southwest Airlines announced it was ditching the open seating policy that's been in place for more than 50 years in favor of assigned seats, and adding overnight red-eye flights in five markets, including Las Vegas to Orlando.

On Friday, July 26, Southwest ended the work week by announcing roundtrip service for three college football games and two pro games, and seasonal flights to two Florida cities.

Southwest adds 'from the cold to the coast' flights

Southwest announced more flights connecting historically chilly winter cities to Florida and California, effective Jan. 7, "for customers wishing to visit a sunnier locale during the winter months."

  • Columbus and Miami

  • Chicago and Palm Springs, California

  • Pittsburgh and Miami

  • Providence and West Palm Beach

Southwest adding football flights

The official airline of the Southeastern Conference wants to make it easier to see the big games, but sadly none of them are to or from Florida cities.

College football roundtrip flights include routes between Dallas and Houston to Las Vegas for the game on Sept. 1, a flight between Dallas and Detroit for an Ann Arbor, Michigan game on Sept. 7, and a flight between Nashville and Oklahoma City for a game in Norman, Oklahoma on Sept. 21, 2024.

The professional game flights are between Kansas City and Atlanta for the Atlanta game on Sept. 22 and between Columbus, Ohio to Las Vegas for a Vegas game on Sept. 29.

More changes coming to Southwest Airlines

In addition to assigning seats, "Southwest will offer a premium, extended legroom portion of the cabin, which research shows many customers strongly prefer. While specific cabin layout details are still in design, Southwest expects roughly one-third of seats across the fleet to offer extended legroom," the airline said.

The airline said it will also introduce red-eye flights. Booking for the airline's new red-eye flights opened Thursday, July 25. The first overnight flights will land Feb. 14, 2025, or Valentine's Day, starting in five markets:

  • Las Vegas to Orlando

  • Las Vegas to Baltimore

  • Los Angeles to Baltimore

  • Los Angeles to Nashville

  • Phoenix to Baltimore

Southwest Airlines available at 11 Florida airports

Effective Aug. 5, 2024, Southwest said it will be serving 117 airports, including 11 in Florida.

Florida airports offering Southwest flights include:

  • Destin/Fort Walton Beach, VPS

  • Fort Lauderdale, FLL

  • Fort Myers, RSW

  • Jacksonville, JAX

  • Miami, MIA

  • Orlando, MCO

  • Panama City Beach, PNS

  • Pensacola, PNS

  • Sarasota/Bradenton, SRQ

  • Tampa, TPA

  • West Palm Beach, PBI

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Southwest Airlines adds seasonal flights to two Florida cities in 2025