AA is dropping RDU to BDL, CMH, and STL. Over the past 2 years, AA and other airlines have dropped RDU to other destinations such as AUS, MCI, MKE, and MSY. I wish WN would pick up some of the slack! I remember WN once had nonstops from RDU to AUS and MCI.

please, please ,pleae fly to fresno, its a big city but overlooked because it sits between lax and sfo, its a nightmare and expensive to fly in and out of there. a fresno chicago, fresno san diego ,and fresno baltimore would do well plus vegas and lax and oakland and houston all would be good.

-- Today we started accepting bookings from March 14 through May 7, 2010.--
I'm trying to book at flight from Detroit to Seattle, March 24-March 29, 2010, but when I go to make the reservation it tells me only taking them until March 12. When can I book for later in March 2010?

Today we started accepting bookings from March 14 through May 7, 2010.

I'm trying to book a flight from Detroit to Seattle March 24- March 29, 2010 but keeping being alerted that reservations are being taken only to March 12. When can I book late-March flights?
Thanks

RDU routes have not been terribly profitable for the airlines as of late with the declines in business travel. I'm sure that WN is looking carefully at these routes, but remember that they couldn't make them work in a solid economy.

I would like to know if there are any plans for IAD to DEN service. I'm think DEN nonstops would do tremendous out of IAD. United currently is the only airline that provides DEN service from IAD with 8 nonstops, 3 on A319, 2 on 757's, 2 on 767's and 1 on 777. I think Southwest could easily do DEN nonstops out of IAD. While I know BWI already has DEN, IAD is just not the same market. Here in DC and especially northern Virginia, most costomers will ay $200 more a ticket willingly and fly out of IAD rather than fight the DC traffic over to BWI. I think that DEN would do very very well out of IAD. Currently the only western market served by nonstops in LAS and we are constantly getting complaints from customers that are unwillingly to go and transfer in MDW.

H_X, the actions of our competitor's never go un-noticed! Once...years ago, after AA's hub at BNA was eliminated, Southwest ran an advertisement in the paper that said "Nashville is familiar with American Airlines' service. After all, they've seen it cut back 87% since 1992." So while I can't promise RDU expansion, we'll add service where we can fill airplanes. We almost always do!

I can't believe WN is dropping non-stop service from AUS to PHL. You are the only airline offering a non-stop. I flew in May and the flight was full. So now we will have to change or stop in MDW, BNA, HOU, DAL, TPA?, FLL? or MCO? So much for convenient travel to Philly from Austin. There is even one flight option through Denver, and it takes all day. Why even show this? I am guessing that I will not fly WN to PHL again!

Happy WET afternoon, everyone! (Only two dry days so far in October in Dallas. Our feet are webbing...)

A few more responses:

New city requests in general--we're looking at everywhere, guys, to make sure we're making the right moves. But we're not in growth mode, in that we're not growing the size of the fleet--so any added cities or frequencies come at the cost of reducing others.

Anonymous — Tue, 10/13/2009 - 11:17--look again! This schedule adds nonstops from Ontario to Chicago/Midway!

Brenda — Tue, 10/13/2009 - 11:33--Brenda, not sure why you were getting that. We should have been open at 10:00 CDT--but I just checked and it's open now, so have at it!

Frequent Flyer — Tue, 10/13/2009 - 11:35--Our nonstop STL-SLC-STL service is cancelled effective November 1st this year.

David — Tue, 10/13/2009 - 11:47--David, I could spend most of the rest of this afternoon discussing your comment point by point, but I don't have the time; however, let me point out that our schedule moves (whether they're additions or deletions) are in response to either forecasted results or actual, historical ones. We never discontinue markets that are profitable; in the case of ones that we've eliminated from Nashville, they were cancelled because they were not contributors, however much you claim they were "supported." May I also respectfully point out that the reason Nashville O&D's have remained as high as they are is specifically because of the large presence the world's largest low-fare carrier--Southwest--has at the airport.

And finally, Anonymous — Tue, 10/13/2009 - 13:19--I'm VERY sad that we're NOT codesharing right now. Codesharing LEADS to growth. Opens up new markets to our brand of fare stimulation and gets us in places we'd never have gone otherwise. Like LGA. and BOS. And MSP. Oh, well....the end of 2011 can't come fast enough for me!

Thanks, everyone....keep the posts coming!

Bill

So Cool that you answer these questions..........

Would like to see service from Dayton Ohio - this is a growing and expanding airport and southwest would do well there or either Cincinnati

Thanks

Bill, thank you for providing the PDFs with the detailed frequency changes with your post. I'm still impressed that you generally end up with such well spaced departures compared to the old school years ago schedules.

Here's a question on the seasonal winter to spring flying time transition. I would think that for all the increased (mostly westbound) typical headwinds that impact schedules, you'd have about as many typical tailwinds so that it would more or less even out. So is the real winter impact because winds are both stronger and more unpredictable so you have to put a bit more cushion into the winter block times all around?

One more question to go with this... Is the new March weekday flying increase due strictly to seasonal flying time changes, or does some of the increase come from slightly lengthening the day on some lines? After all, I assume that early/late flights in some markets will perform better in April than in January.

i would be willing to pay 5.00 dollars for a current Southwest schedule book!

When discussing growing metro areas, does Southwest take into account the "Southwest Effect" such as by flying into TYS they would dominate their 2MM pax per year plus drawing new pax from TRI, CHA and AVL. all 100 miles away. Just curious.

I would love to see service at ACY. C'mon Southwest, make ACY a southwest destination

We would LUV to see ya'll in ROC!

You would just own the skies above Rochester, NY.

See ya real soon!!

SYR would be a GREAT market: SYR to BWI (badly needed), PHL, MCO, MDW, LAS.
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, and PRETTY PLEASE COME TO SYR!!!!!!!

Good morning all! A few additional responses to your comments:

Anonymous — Tue, 10/13/2009 - 16:59--two answers to your question. One, all new markets (and even new flights, meaning increased frequencies) have a development time in which they build towards profitability. In the past we've been willing to wait longer for new service to turn that corner--in some cases, a LOT longer. However, in today's economic environment and with today's costs, we can't wait as long as we used to. And two, we're taking a rather different eye towards these things nowadays. It's not just about individual flights or markets; it's about the network as a whole. We're being neither as draconian nor as idiotic about this as those "other guys" out there, but with new and well-calibrated tools at the Company's disposal we have a much better view to the way things hang together....or don't. Hope that helps and doesn't confuse the issue!

Robert S — Tue, 10/13/2009 - 17:29--GREAT comment, and all of your points are spot-on. Thanks for noticing the spacing in our schedule--our schedule optimizer was designed specifically to space flights as evenly as possible. As to winds--the difference in winter between the eastbound and westbound winds tends to be significantly more than at other times of the year, so we don't get as much benefit from the tailwinds as we take hits from the headwinds. However, you're also correct in that the variability is so much higher in winter that we have to schedule heavier--meaning block times are set at higher percentiles than we normally would at other times of the year. And yes, there is a little (very little) increase in very early and very late flights, but the majority of the added flying really is due to the decrease in needed block time in the Spring!

Mitch — Tue, 10/13/2009 - 17:56--thanks so much for the support. And let's hope that our stock price soon will go from "dinner at McDonalds" to "dinner at The Mansion"!!!!

Alex Trude — Tue, 10/13/2009 - 19:16--stay tuned!

Kevin — Tue, 10/13/2009 - 19:21--Kevin, we absolutely pay attention to the size and to the demographics of catchment areas for airports we're evaluating. The "Southwest Effect" is alive and well, thank you very much!

JJ OMA — Tue, 10/13/2009 - 19:37--JJ, to say we're thrilled with our reception of our new service to/from the Twin Cities is a huge understatement. We'd love to add service to MANY new cities from MSP; it's just finding the airplane time to do it. We're working on it!

And finally to Becky — Wed, 10/14/2009 - 00:59--be nice, now....

Later, guys!

Bill

my family and i have a problem..... you guys can take us to FLL from MHT but cant take us back on wanna get a way fares!!!!! also are there discounts for youth(12-21)? and when is the best time to book the cheapest fares....our cruise and hotel are booked already....its up to you southwest!

Please, please, please reconsider Aus-Phl. At least add 1 stop no plane changes in BNA or HOU.

Reward Travel Booking:

As a AMEX Membership Rewards member, I find it frustrating that I cannot view Reward Travel flight availability on your website; each time I look for a rewards flight, I get "bounced" out, telling me I don't have enough points! Well I already know that, but will transfer them if I know a flight is available! I would suggest that you make this modification to the website- as it does not seem to be an issue with your competition. Thanks!

David in Nashville, if SWA could fill planes in and out of Nashville they would be. In the 80's who knew 911, fuel prices and the stinking economy would wipe out Customer demand? SWA flies where the Customer demand is. Times have changed and just ask yourself what would airfares be if SOUTHWEST never flew. Nashville is not the only city who feels underserved and cheated but the bottem line is the bottem line. I am sorry you feel so rejected.

Good morning, all! A few more replies to your comments.

Anonymous — Wed, 10/14/2009 - 10:05--I understand your disappointment, but you're comparing apples and oranges. We've been in PHL quite a lot longer than we've been in DEN; this is a case of trimming unpopular service in an established market vs. adding new service that is forecasted to be successful in a new market. Plus, one thing DEN has going for it that PHL can't is the ability to supplement local traffic with connecting and through traffic.

SouthwestFreak — Wed, 10/14/2009 - 13:50--while I don't pretend to know much about our fares, you might use the "Southwest Shortcut" to show you alternate days of travel that might help lower your airfare. Have a great trip, and take a dramamine for me!

Anonymous — Wed, 10/14/2009 - 14:18--we'll open the rest of May on December 17th. You can always find the date the next schedule "chunk" will open at southwest.com on the "Travel Tools" tab.

Anonymous — Wed, 10/14/2009 - 18:16--we do have onestop, direct service in the March schedule--flight 606 leaves AUS at 5:30 pm and arrives PHL at 11:05 p.m.; returning, flight 420 leaves PHL at 10:55 a.m. and arrives AUS at 4:05 p.m.. Plus, we have many, many other connecting itineraries available for you.

strz — Wed, 10/14/2009 - 22:53--way, way out of my field of knowledge here! But I'll pass your comment along to my friends across the hall at .com.

scottnearsmf — Wed, 10/14/2009 - 23:10--thanks!

And finally, to mf — Wed, 10/14/2009 - 21:25--listen, bubba, I haven't been to a deck party in ages, and if I even attempted to play volleyball it would register on the Richter scale. Clearly, what you don't know about what codesharing can do for an airline would fill a space the size of Guam. I have neither the interest nor the strength in trying to change your mind. I'll just say, clearly, and unequivocally: you're wrong. Completely, 100% wrong. And I state that based on (1) over 30 years in the industry, (2) being involved tons of analysis both pre- and post-operation of our ATA codeshare, and (3) because I'm on the SWA International Codeshare Committee--just got out of our weekly meeting, in fact. Not sure what crawled up your gullet and died, nor do I know what your angle is--but I'll say it again--you're wrong.

Lunchtime here in Big D. Later!!

Bill

I live in Salt Lake. Me and a number of people I know as well are always trying to get flights from SLC to Ft. Lauderdale or Miami (even though you don't fly to Miami alone). There are NO nonstop SLC-FLL flights from here. If Southwest was to have a nonstop SLC-FLL flight I believe it would be VERY popular and would make Southwest a unique choice for Florida travel from Salt Lake or vice versa. Thanks.

i believe Southwest is a very poor airline, it may be profitable, but it is very rudimentary in its customer service approach and because they are profitable the believe the are superior. Jet Blue and Airtran have much better product and more professional dedicated customer care.
Simply because they don't charge bags fees does not make them a natural choice for air travel.

Happy FRIDAY everyone (my birthday weekend, no less)! Here are replies for the last four of you.

Charles Nash — Thu, 10/15/2009 - 12:11--Charles, we know you Midwesterners love the West Coast of Florida. Unfortunately, more service to Tampa, as well as connecting service to Ft. Myers, is all we can offer. CMH-RSW is a very small market in its own right--however, for next winter (meaning winter/Spring Break 2011), it might be an excellent Saturday service candidate!

Anonymous — Thu, 10/15/2009 - 14:21--As in the response to Charles--SLC-FLL is a very, very small market. For the time being, I hope our connecting service (not to mention the smiles and friendly faces you get on Southwest!) will be enough!

Julian — Thu, 10/15/2009 - 22:01--Julian, "Schedule Geek" is a term of endearment around here, and is one that I wear proudly!!! Thanks!

And finally, Anonymous — Fri, 10/16/2009 - 08:51--As my mother would say (and did say, MANY times!), "that's the reason they make Fords and Chevrolets." Meaning--there is no single product or service that everyone, everywhere likes. So, you're free to have your opinion, and you are welcome to it. I personally and wholeheartedly disagree with you, however--I am *not* a fan of either of those two airlines' service, comfort, or people. I'll take the friendliness, camaraderie, and occasional flashes of humor of my Southwest Family over any other airline, anywhere, anytime.

Thanks, guys....have a good weekend!

Bill

Could not disagree more with the assertion that somehow Jet Blue is more professional and offers a better product than Southwest. We had a trip from TUS (before they thankfully left that market) to SYR two years ago. It turned into a nightmare.

On the outbound portion, the only problem was damage to a suitcase. That happens. On the return (remember Jet Blue had only one flight per day from JFK to TUS), our departure out of SYR was held up by ground conditions at JFK. To make a long story short, we arrived at JFK only to be informed we had missed our connection by a mere 20 minutes. This depite our pleas through Jet Blue's 800 number and the captain of our SYR-JFK flight to ask the flight to wait just a few minutes. This also despite the fact the westbound schedule had plenty of "fudge factor" time built into it, to the point that with even just a 20 minute delay, the flight would still have arrived TUS early. After sleeping in the dingy Jet Blue terminal at JFK, we took a morning flight to PHX, where we had to rent a car to get back to Tucson. (Typical of the NYC-type geographic ignorance, a Jet Blue agent offered to get us on a plane to a location near Tucson, such as Houston - LOL). All we got from Jet Blue for our inconvenience was a measly $50 voucher towards future travel and puzzlement that we were so dissatisfied with their sorry excuse for an airline.

I contrast the above with the treatment our granddaughter received on a SW round trip this summer from BWI to PHX. I only wish you guys would serve SYR so that we can travel there reliably and economically, while receiving professional treatment, certainly much more professioanl than we were accorded by Jet Blue.

I really like the way the schedule is amended to fit seasonal and day of the week fluctuations in travel demand. Two brief wonderings...

ICT -- With DAL opened up to additional states and DEN burgeoning in service, I wonder if ICT is a candidate? A smaller market but higher priced than many, quick turnaround time, and short'sh hops to DAL, DEN and ORD.

With business sluggish and leisure holding up fairly well, I wonder if WN has considered lower frequency service (even only 3-4X/week) between certain city pairs - even inlcluding new destinations? (I see a lot of this on European lower cost carriers).

Great blog and I totally enjoy seeing the fine tunings with each new schedule extension.

I was wondering if there are any plans for dulles to den nonstops. i know that baltimore has nonstops, but driving in dc traffic is just not worth it. when you live in northern virginia, it is at least 1.5 hour drive to balitmore plus having the stress of traffic. i willingly pay more to fly on united out of dulles who has 8 nonstops a day. while having a direct is nice, i think southwest has a very much untapped market of nonstops to denver out of dulles. dc is very much different from the rest of the county in that people (northern virginians) will willingly pay more to fly out of dulles than have to deal with traffic all the way to balitmore. i would love denver and even boston on southwest. currently for boston i fly jetblue out of dulles.

Bill, first of all, I love your blog!!! Now that I've buttered you up real good, (lol), I was hoping that Southwest isn't finished analyzing possible schedule additions at STL. I read what you said about DEN being a good airport for additional flights due to it's geographic location and the ability for connections. Well I know you are then aware that STL is even better for that than is DEN, as it's near the population center of the country as well as its geographic center. And of course STL is a larger metropolitan area than DEN. And also that STL will no longer have a hub airline to compete with, as opposed to TWO hubs at DEN with UA and Frontier. And of course STL has fewer weather interruptions than DEN.

I'd love to see you add flights from STL to AUS, also STL>SAT, STL>IND, and STL>PDX, all of which were cut by AA. I believe that none of these cities will have nonstop service after AA finishes destroying it's STL hub in April. Other possibilities are STL>SFO (although I know UA just announced that new nonstop route) or STL>OAK. I think the O/D demand between these two large metropolitan areas can certainly justify more than one daily nonstop flight! I would also love to see you make the Nashville commenter happy by reconsidering STL>BNA! :-)