Bill,

This is great news. As a fellow SWA employee I haven't understood the "backlash" to our codeshare announcements and the accusations that SWA isn't committed to growing with our own planes and employees.
This announcement coupled with MSP starting in March just reiterates we have a very loooong way to go in the Domestic market as we try to accomplish our stated goal: World Domination. There are dozens of places to serve in the US that we as an airline are absent from.
These announcements assure me that Gary is "cautiously aggressive" and in 20 years we'll be thanking him for guiding us through this tough economic time. We might even name a plane after him.....

Adam @ BWI

Adam, thanks! This represents an incredible--a historic, to be honest--opportunity for Southwest. We are thrilled to be able to continue to grow our Company, even in extremely difficult economic times.

And Anonymous (what's with you guys not putting your names in the "Your Name" slot on the comment form, anyway???), trust me, we're well aware of the difficulties of operating at LGA. not only has Schedule Planning studied, and visited, the facility at length, we have four, count 'em, four, native New Yorkers in Schedule Planning, including our Director who grew up in Queens less than a mile from LGA. So we know--and we're working to design our schedule in such a way that while it still is Southwest-efficient, and offers convenience to our Customers, it won't degrade the operational performance of the rest of the System. We're doing all we can to be ahead of the curve here. However--what do youse guys think? We're all ears!

Keep those comments coming, folks!

Bill

So when I heard another city was possible, I thought Cincinnati. Just goes to show I'm a little locked into "old" Southwest thinking. ;-)

I'm sure I'm not the only one who sent out an announcement email, to friends and family, with the title, "Holy S&%$" and have received lots of comments with, "YAY!!!" in the response.

Wow!

Good Luck!! I hope you're successful in getting slots there. I would fly you to NY!

I agree. Don't just fly to MDW. BWI is necessary for it to be conveinant for those in the east as MDW makes you fly away from your destination and then have to turn around again and go back while BWI is a straight shot for FL, the SE, and the Midwest.

Good Luck!!

This is very exciting news and certainly a huge opportunity to access the largest travel market in the country. With only 7 slot pairs and very limited opportunity to grow those out it seems a difficult situation to leverage as you have such limited capacity to work with and no opportunities to expand if (when!) things go well there.

It also means I've got a chance to finally be in a Southwest town. Yippee!!

Between NYC and Minneapolis you've got your route planning crew working hard on making things line up correctly. Good on you for that.

Firewind,
We asked your question with Bob Montgomery, our Vice President of Properties who has been leading our effort on this. Here is Bob's response:

We have no desire to operate in DCA at this time, and it had more value to ATA than to us. Therefore, its exclusion had the effect of increasing the value of our bid to ATA.

of course this is huge. we're putting all the chips in the right place. some might think that with herb gone gary has no clue. but, i'm sure there's a reason herb wanted him there. if i was a betting man, which i'm not (because i only go to vegas once a week) i bet he's just getting ready for all those code-shares. that way we can gain some experience before we fly intl' flts ourselves. that gary knows what he's doing just....just wait and see....best thing is to have a little faith. and bill...i'm gonna leave my name anonymous cuz i don't want to get charged at by the angry mob that's picketing! just kidding.

This is exciting!!! Kudos to Southwest!!!
Pilots, are you fuming over this????
I hope you're happy that your airline is growing and you can fly to at least 1 more destination after MSP.

That is great news.... after the 14 slots are awarded are you able to apply for more slots as your business grows in that market?

I hope BNA is one of the cities chosen for LGA, we are within the 1500 mile radius and could really use some competition up against the other aairline flying the BNA-LGA route.

Bravo, mazel tov and yipppee! As a longtime New Yorker, I have long lamented the absence of Southwest in the NYC market (ISP being just too bleedin' far for those of us non-driving city dwellers).

LaGuardia is not the greatest of airports, but it is FAR from the worst. And, like a few other commenters mentioned, it is much closer to Manhattan and much less aggravating than pain-in-the-a** JFK or EWR.

I've been a loyal Southwest flyer for more than a decade--unlike just about every other carrier out there, Southwest has never let me down. Thanks for this very exciting news!

AP

Still no Hawian Flights? I know ATA was big over there.

Regarding ISP--guys, Islip is a GREAT market, in and of itself. Nearly 4 million people leave closer to ISP than the other NYC area airports--so that's not a market we intend to abandon! Things may fluctuate up and down seasonally--but we have no plans reduce things. We wouldn't have built the new terminal if we had!!!!!

Bill

LaGuardia also has a perimeter restriction of 1500 miles. Because of that restriction, this decision kind of surprised me.

I'm a little surprised that Southwest isn't considering or trying to get into HPN.

Simply marvelous darlings....... Here in ISP we are all very excited about the new bid. If you all only knew how many pax there really are, that take the shuttle to the LIRR (Long Island Railroad) to get into NYC on a daily basis. The number is incredible. We have huge NYC customers!! Having worked in the baggage service office for years now, trust me, they come in everrrrrry day!!! And they luv SWA. And I personally dont think LGA is going to fall into the East River anytime soon. Thanks for all you do. LV/ISP

Warrio3634 - Your comment is my favorite of the day! Thank you :)

Thanks, Brian.

Mr. Montgomery has debunked DCA. I still disagree.

But there's been nothing said about BOS. I think BOS is next.

In another vein, as the picture gets clearer, the question becomes clearer: What is going to be the gateway for the Europe codeshare? It simply won't be LGA, and I pray that it won't be JFK or EWR, requiring crosstown van service (as some airlines used to do for "connecting" flights). I do hope that it will be IAD, and that there will be LGA slots for IAD. And with Mr. Montgomery debunking DCA, it seems that IAD becomes even more important in various respects -- not least, Southwest's Business Traveler initiative. Then again, it could be MDW. But at some point, Southwest would have to acknowledge that it has (*cough*) hubs.

Why does BWI keep coming into this discussion? Is it because Southwesterners are used to it?

Thanks again.

That would be so great! I live in NYC, and Islip's just too far of a schlep. I did have the chance to fly SWA last year (via ATA codeshare), and would be thrilled to fly SWA again.

I really do hope that you add BWI since it is basically the connecting node for the east coast. If you do IAD and MDW or FL and MDW as many sources are speculating you're going to cut off most of your east coast customers from being able to travel to your newest city with any kind of convenience because MDW is backtracking for the eastern and part of the central time zone, IAD cuts off places like Nashville, Louisville, etc.(wish places like IAD,IND, and STL were more open), and FL is back tracking and could be more easily served through BWI which like I said would allow more connectivity to LGA. So all of that said....PLEASE serve BWI. You could do 3 BWI and 4 MDW or vice-versa and that would open almost your entire route network to LGA while all of this other speculation would not and therefore wouldn't be fair.

Bill-I can only dream that you will eventually serve PIT from LGA. I am trying to rid myself of US Airways but haven't been able to completely. This would put me one step closer. Back in the day, three airlines flew between PIT and LGA. Right now there is just one.

Let me add my name to the list hoping for the LGA-BNA connection!

Mr. Owen, point taken. ;-)

And the point is being made over on FlyerTalk that the LGA-MDW run is really going to be the rainmaker. So, re >>Get ready, NYC--you've not seen ANYTHING like Southwest!<< ...conversely, I've got to believe that it's also going to be like heroin to Southwest. Viva the Business Traveler. (And Willie Sutton.)

Anything about BOS? (I keep hoping that those drumbeats in the distance aren't just mine echoing off the walls in this empty room...)

Great job Bill and to your team. This is very exciting news serving LGA. and to Gary Kelly Thank You for a job well done . I know LGA will be a great addition for your business travelers. Maybe BOS, CLT next maybe??

I agree with expanding at MSP even if it is short haul flights like going to Denver (for people to and from the west coast) and St Louis (for people going to and from the South)
There is no redundency if Chicago is closed which happens in the winter since they are right next to the lakes.

Leigh, PHX-LGA isn't possible. LGA has a perimiter rule which caps that maximum distance you can fly to or from LGA at 1,500 statute miles, plus Denver. At 2,140 miles, PHX-LGA is well over the limit. So, no matter where Southwest serves LGA from--PHX will have to have at least one stop. Sorry!

Bill

All Southwest really needs to do to get into the New York Market is to make getting to ISP easier. Considering the delays associated with New York airports, an extra hour of travel to ISP should be comparable to an extra hour or two fo waiting at LGA or JFK. What people living in New York City need for this to be a viable solution is a way to get there without a car. This could be accomplished by relocating the terminal to the north side of the airport, so it is within walking distance of the train station. The train ride is within a reasonable amount of time from the city, however, the connecting shuttle bus currently makes the trip too long.
Southwest could also provide bus service from the city, but would need frequent service that is cheap enough for people to use.

12 Slots are not that many. As much as I want LGA to MCO services. I can really only see non-stops and BWI and MDW. The other problem I see with LGA is that flights are delayed. If Southwest is smart, they will reroute any flight that is expected to be delayed more than three hours to ISP when the airport is too crowded and provide ground transportation. Considering that th airport collects terminal fees, those fees are what should really go to funding the ground transportation, but this would benefit Southwest anyway. This would be an inconvenience for passengers, but one that beats waiting longer time at the terminal. This will also save them fuel if planes are placed in holding patterns and have to fly around for more than an hour consuming fuel. With such a contingency plan, the plane might even be able to take off if the airport has a ground hold.

Hello Bill,
I am absoluely estatic at the announce for LGA. I think it would be a great complement to the system. I know there are a few people that are worrisome about the delay issue that alot of other airlines encounter with LGA, but LGA has been improving their arrival time. Last month I believe they posted a 73 percent ontime arrival. I know... not as high as other airports but a huge improvement from last place. I sincerely hope that BWI is not forgotten about in the slot selection. The feeder traffic from the south and from florida would be overwhelming. GREAT for Southwest. True it would be good to have high freqencies to one market from the jump but like someone said before, what happens if MDW shutdown? What are the options? I say don't just share LGA with residents west of MDW where connecting there is feasible. Share the 66th city wtih the whole Southwest system. If you want them full. The market is definately there. Even if the NYC - PBI/FLL/MIA/TPA/RSW/ANYTHING ASSOCIATED TO FLORIDA market is already saturated, that city has 21million people in their metropolitan area. I think that one of the only cities I believe that can never be over served. just not enough airports...THANK GOD LOL. ( I mean no harm MDW, but your winters are beyond me. I don't know how you guys do it which is the reason why you guys are such a great airline I guess. )

I live in the Baltimore/Washington Metropolitan Area and of course by your rapid growth here you guys know there's alot of people here who absolutely love you and willing to spend the money... LGA would solidify it. I know alot of people that would drive to DCA to fly to LGA because US Airways Shuttle uses Airbus 319 rather than fly out of BWi becuase they uses regional jets. Don't forget about that influx, but I'll guess we'll all have to hold it in and tap our pencils until you guys announce which lucky CITIES ( hopefully ) will get the LGA gig. Until then...