Southwest Airlines chairman Herb Kelleher this afternoon will announce Philadelphia International Airport as the carrier's newest destination. The decision may surprise those who know Southwest to favor uncongested, non-hub airports. Philadelphia is a primary hub of US Airways.
Southwest CFO Gary Kelly this month confirmed the carrier would add at least one new city in 2004 and conveyed an aggressive growth strategy
(BTN, Oct. 27). Southwest's Philadelphia schedule at press time remained unclear, but the carrier termed the announcement "major." The airport already harbors a trio of low-cost carriers: AirTran Airways operates service to its Atlanta hub and three Florida destinations, ATA Airlines flies between Philadelphia and its Chicago Midway hub and America West offers nonstop service to its hubs in Las Vegas and Phoenix.
Southwest's entry into the Philadelphia market certainly will present a fresh challenge to incumbent US Airways, which already has been supplanted at Baltimore Washington International Airport by Southwest and AirTran. US Airways relies on Philadelphia traffic as a fulcrum on the East Coast and to feed international flights.