Southwest Airlines today announced plans to launch service at New York's LaGuardia Airport in late June with five daily nonstops to and from Chicago Midway International Airport and three daily nonstops to and from Baltimore/Washington International Airport.
Those LaGuardia services represent the carrier's entry into the New York City market and tap into larger networks already established in Chicago Midway and Baltimore/Washington. Southwest said connecting options at those airports offer more than 45 destinations from New York.
"For years, customers have asked for Southwest service into New York City, and we are now connecting two of our largest markets with the nation's largest city," said Southwest Airlines chairman, president and CEO Gary Kelly in a statement today.
Customers can book flights beginning today for the new services through direct channels, with introductory fares of $89 per way for Chicago Midway service and $49 per way for Baltimore/Washington service, the carrier said.
According to a research note issued today from airfare tracker Rick Seaney, CEO FareCompare.com, Southwest's new routes put the carrier "smack dab in the middle of a hornet's nest of competition." Seaney noted there already are 103 daily departures connecting the Washington D.C. metro area with New York-area airports, and 76 daily departures connecting the New York area with Chicago airports.
Still, Seaney said the benefits of the service are less about those point-to-point routes, and instead offer an opportunity for Southwest to plug New York travelers into its broader network via Midway and Baltimore/Washington.
"The method to Southwest's madness is revealed with a quick look at these two prominent Southwest 'focus cities.' Chicago Midway, with 222 daily departures, and Baltimore, with 173 daily departures, allow Southwest to extend their one-stop reach from New York LaGuardia to slightly over three-fourths of the remaining 65 cities in their route system," Seaney said.
"After looking at the new Southwest airfares more closely I did notice one major difference in the new price structure out of New York, specifically for business travelers. The walkup airfares purchased by many business travelers are lower than the legacy airlines, in some cases substantially, with prices ranging from $225 to $425 each way. This may be in part to compensate for the legacy airlines' advantage with frequent nonstops to several popular business destinations out of New York where Southwest must connect with a one-stop."
The carrier in December 2008 announced its initial plans to launch service in New York through the purchase of airport slots owned by the now-defunct ATA Airlines. An Indiana bankruptcy court judge overseeing the restructuring of ATA last month approved the sale of assets to Southwest. Some corporate travel buyers cheered the move, with the hope that the carrier could help bring down fares in the largest business travel market in the United States
(BTNonline, Dec. 8, 2008).