Wow.....it's happened! Southwest Airlines service to and from New York's LaGuardia Airport (LGA) is now for sale. Service starts June 28, and we'll offer five daily flights between LaGuardia and Chicago/Midway and three flights between LaGuardia and Baltimore/Washington. In New York, we will be operating from the Central Terminal, Concourse B. In addition to the two nonstop destinations from LGA, we're offering direct and connecting service to 45 more destinations all across our system, from the West Coast to Florida to the Midwest to our home, Dallas Love Field. We've done some interesting network design work--both up-front and behind the scenes--to make sure we take care of y'all, given the uniqueness of operating at LaGuardia, in true Southwest Airlines style. As always, Southwest is putting our Customers first. Gee, putting Customers first--talk about something new for air travellers in the Big Apple......... *grin*
Because I know you'll ask--how were we able to schedule eight departures a day? Simple. Southwest received 14 daily slots for our operations at LGA (each takeoff and each landing requires a slot), which gives us authority for seven departures daily. As a bonus--we're able to add an eighth flight by scheduling our first LGA-MDW departure in before slot controls start (prior to 7:00 a.m.) and putting the last MDW-LGA arrival after slot controls stop (after 9:59 p.m.). Oops, I mispoke a bit here, and this is the correct info: We were able to negotiate with the FAA for one additional slot for our first departure, and the last arrival reaches LGA after slot controls stop at 9:59 p.m. (Slot control begins at 6:00 a.m.) So even though we're new to this whole slot-controlled thing--we're already working to maximize our presence at LaGuardia. Who knows what the future may bring!
As a longtime Southwest Airlines Employee, I have to admit that the now-certainty of Southwest flying to LaGuardia is just darn near surreal to me. I would have NEVER bet that this would happen five or ten years ago--but Southwest Airlines continues to evolve and adapt to changing market conditions, and this just is another step in that evolution. But whatever else happens, I can promise you guys that we're going to serve the Big Apple in true Southwest Airlines style, with Big Smiles, Big Savings, Big Customer Service, and Big Reliability. (Big Hair, as a Dallas-based carrier, will be optional.)
So c'mon....will it be Chinatown or on Riverside? The New York Times or the Daily News? Doesn't matter to us....just join us as Southwest enters a New York state of mind!
Comments
So, not only has that place officially frozen over ;-) ........
.......but the schedule also allows for crew overnights!?!?!?!?
Holy Wonderful Unintended Consequences, Batman!!!!!!
Seriously, I have a friend, who's flown someone else enough for special status, who's really ready for Southwest Service and Smiles.
Will
This is great! About time, I am thrilled to here this news!!!
I was wondering about that 8th flight. Thanks for the explanation.
This kind of innovation makes me want to go out and buy shares of LUV.
will service be "through" or will plane changes be required along the way of these routes?
way to go SWA!!! when's Boston-Logan open up?
Please tell me the ISP-BWI flights will stay the same!!!
Will the three Baltimore flights eventually be scheduled better for connections because right now from my city there is only one connection showing there and the flight is an all day trip with at least two hours more flying time than say a connection on US Airways through DCA? Thanks
All I can say is this: AWESOME and ABOUT TIME!!!! Thank you Southwest Airlines for answering my prayers!!!:) I was hoping that once you had started service on Long Island that it was only a matter of time before you would come to LGA and serve the people who would love to fly with an airline such as Southwest. SWA is going to make a TON of revenue with the new LGA service.
Do I get extra points for predicting the Baltimore-LaGuardia service?
Midway is an obvious choice, given that the code-sharing flights with now-defunct ATA probably filled up regularly with both local and connecting traffic. The battle between Baby Delta and Southwest for MDW-LGA should be interesting!
The Baltimore flights make sense because they offer so many connection possibilities to Florida and other destinations. Combined with all the connecting possibilities at Midway, Southwest is in a good position to carry a lot of folks from New York City to virtually anywhere in the USA. In fact, getting a seat for the local portion of the route could be challenging on certain days.
Given the notorious delays at New York City airports, I'm curious as to whether Southwest will try to offer many direct flights that go beyond Chicago and Baltimore. Or will certain aircraft be dedicated to exclusively flying the two nonstop routes, so as to not bog down the entire system when something goes wrong?
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