Those of us who are older than dirt (like me) and are fans of Carol Burnett (and who isn't?) will recognize this as the title of a ditty performed by a very young Miss Burnett on the Jack Paar Show in 1957. The erstwhile Secretary of State is also the namesake of Dulles International Airport in Virginia, which will become Southwest's newest destination airport later this year.
Southwest is always looking for opportunities to provide our Positively Outrageous Service to an ever-growing slice of the American "pie," and adding Dulles to our "bakery case" is the right move at the right time. For years, Dulles was primarily the Washington/Baltimore area's longhaul and international airport. However, over the past decade as the population of Northern Virginia has virtually exploded, Dulles has added more and more short- to medium-haul service. The area is home to many large corporations, such as Nextel Communications, Inc. America Online Inc., MCI, and Oracle Corp, which has helped to fuel the surge in traffic at the facility.
Architecture buffs–of which I'm one–will also appreciate Dulles International as one of the premier works of the famous Finnish architect, Eero Saarinen. 
The soaring and spacious terminal design was meant to evoke the feeling of flight. The incredibly beautiful glass-and-concrete facility will be a wonderful addition to the ever-growing flock of Southwest destinations!
Adding a new destination is always an interesting exercise for my workgroup, the Schedule Planning Department. We are always on the lookout for airports that are either under-served and over-priced. Dulles will be a terrific compliment to our large operation at the Baltimore/Washington airport, 45 miles to the northeast of Dulles.
We'll announce destinations, schedules, and fares from Dulles this summer, so stay tuned. Otherwise–welcome to the new Southwest blog, and have an AWESOME day.
Comments
Hi, Ron!
You're right, we want to connect Denver to Texas. Heck, we want to connect Denver to a LOT of places. We're just getting started there, and our thoughts for our intial entry were to connect it with our three largest Stations--La$ Vega$, Phoenix, and Chicago/Midway. But we hope we're not done yet in Denver. We think we can continue to grow there. Be on the lookout for more new service announcements!
As far as choosing Denver over Colorado Springs, the good folks at DIA have steadily lowered their cost per enplanement over the past few years, and their costs got low enough to be in the competitive range. Because Denver is *so* much larger than the Springs is in terms of air traffic, we elected to have our initial re-entry point in Colorado be Denver. That's not to shut the door on Colorado Springs forever--it's a growing area with a great economy. But it's still a fraction of the size of metro Denver/Boulder. After it grows larger, and after we're pretty well tapped out in Denver, you could see Southwest at both airports. Wouldn't that be a Rocky Mountain High?!!
Thanks for your reply...thanks for reading our new blog...and thanks for flying with us!
Hey Bill,
Are you going to grow Kansas City with a flight or two Denver? Okay, now I'm being greedy but how about another non-stop from Sacramento to/from Kansas City? Thanks!
How does one get in the airline schedule planning industry?
But what about us folks in CLT? USAirways has "extorted" us for years. I know that some of the main problems with the CLT airport
is the parking and runway congestion as well as lack of gates. Why don't you guys go to GSP? It's only 75 road miles from CLT and
I know lots of people who already drive to GSO or RDU for a reasonably priced flight. Plus, GSP has Michelin and BMW very nearby.
Bill-how are ya?
Hey-I agree! Dulles rocks-the architecture was very much ahead of its time and was ridiculed by lots of people when it opened.
And boy !Those legislators are probably salivating now over the possibility of Wright repeal.
Something for your gee whiz file-from somebody even older than you:
When I was little-back in the ealry fifties-we lived in DC-my mother was John Foster Dulles' secretary at the State Department!
Schedule planning is the field I've always found fascinating in the airline industry. I've been collecting airline timetables since I was 12 (37 years!). Unfortunately, they are no longer as readily available.
What I also like are routing sheets for individual aircraft. Over the years I was able to get a few from United, Hughes AirWest, and ATA. It's fascinating to see how many different cities an individual aircraft will go to during the course of a week.
Welcome to the blog, Matt!
I'd be lying if I said FlyI's demise didn't pique our interest in Dulles, but honestly their operation was much more of a connecting, hug-and-spoke one. Ours will be tailored to the local market--as all of our operations are. Look for our service and fare announcement in the not-too-distant future!
Kyle,
Getting into Schedule Planning varies from airline to airline. At Southwest, in keeping with our grow-it-inhouse Culture, we always look to existing Southwest Employees to see if we can find someone with the right educational and job-fit credentials. We look for someone with a 4-year degree, but the actual discipline is relatively unimportant (we have degrees in our department in Journalism, Engineering, Aviation Management, Business, Computer Science, Mathematics, and Psychology, to name a few). Equally important is the job fit--if you like doing heavy-duty analysis, have a somewhat linear mindset, and are an airline "geek" (trust me, it's a term if endearment!), you're likely a good fit for Schedule Planning at Southwest.
Good luck...and thanks for reading Nuts About Southwest!
Good afternoon, Barkley!
The good folks in and near Charlotte--and in South Carolina--shoudn't count Southwest out. We will continue to grow. Trust me! WE've looked at Charlotte, as well as a number of airports in the Palmetto State. They just haven't risen to the top of the heap yet. At the risk of being self-serving (who, me???), it might be worth a 2 1/2 hour drive up the interstate to Raleigh/Durham for the time being to catch Southwest. Currently the walk-up one way fare on the "other guys" from CLT to Los Angeles is $970, while on Southwest out of RDU it's only $329.60--and with discounts and advance purchase, it goes WAY down from there.
So, we'll either ask for your patience until we get to CLT or GSP--or welcome you aboard one of our LUVjets at RDU. Thanks for the reply!
"We are always on the lookout for airports that are either under-served and over-priced."
Check out MSP... flying out of here isn't cheap!
Post new comment