Southwest Airlines will start service to Akron-Canton, Dayton and Des Moines

Southwest Airlines (Dallas) and its wholly owned subsidiary AirTran Airways (Orlando) announced revisions to upcoming summer and fall flight schedules that will provide the opportunity for Southwest Airlines to begin service to Akron-Canton Airport (CAK) and Dayton International Airport (DAY) beginning on August 12, 2012. Southwest’s schedule in Akron-Canton will offer two daily roundtrip flights to Southwest’s sizable hub operation at Chicago Midway and also Denver, with one daily roundtrip flight. Likewise, the airline will begin service to Dayton with one daily flight to Denver. Southwest’s service in both markets will complement AirTran’s existing service in these cities. AirTran’s service will continue, and the airlines will jointly determine the best time to convert all AirTran’s flying to Southwest.

Southwest Airlines also announced it will transition AirTran’s operation in Des Moines International Airport (DSM) to a Southwest operation with Southwest assuming all flying at the airport.  Beginning on September 30, 2012, Southwest will operate two roundtrip flights between Des Moines and Chicago Midway.

Southwest Airlines chose to begin service to CAK, DSM, and DAY to allow these markets to realize the benefits of the Southwest network, connecting them to large Southwest operations such as Chicago Midway and Denver.

In January, Southwest Airlines and AirTran Airways confirmed plans for Southwest to continue operations at 22 AirTran markets where Southwest Airlines does not currently operate. In addition to DAY, CAK, and DSM, the markets that will eventually join the Southwest route map include:  Flint, Mich. (FNT); Rochester, N.Y. (ROC); Pensacola, Fla. (PNS); Charlotte, N.C. (CLT); Richmond, Va. (RIC); Key West, Fla. (EYW); Washington, D.C. (DCA); Memphis, Tenn. (MEM); Wichita, Kan. (ICT); Branson, Mo. (BKG); Portland, Maine (PWM); Grand Rapids, Mich. (GRR); Punta Cana, Dominican Republic (PUJ); Cancun, Mexico (CUN); Montego Bay, Jamaica (MBJ); Aruba (AUA); San Juan, Puerto Rico (SJU); Bermuda (BDA); and Nassau, Bahamas (NAS).  The airline will continue to make announcements over the next several years as it solidifies plans for these additional cities subject to labor negotiations.

Additionally, Southwest Airlines announced it will begin new seasonal flying between St. Louis and Panama City Beach as well as between Portland, Oregon, and Austin with one daily roundtrip each beginning June 3, 2012. Effective the same day, the airline also will add an additional seasonal roundtrip each on routes between Boston and St. Louis and between Dallas and Austin. Finally, AirTran’s new schedule includes additional frequencies out of Atlanta to markets such as Baltimore/Washington, Houston Hobby, Chicago Midway, Denver, and Los Angeles.

Southwest and AirTran are making the changes to continue aligning the two networks following Southwest’s acquisition of AirTran in May 2011. The airline saw opportunities throughout the summer schedule to utilize aircraft time and make adjustments to both flight schedules.

Copyright Photo: Michael B. Ing.

AirTran Slide Show: CLICK HERE

Southwest Slide Show: CLICK HERE

One thought on “Southwest Airlines will start service to Akron-Canton, Dayton and Des Moines”

  1. Phil Perry

    Interesting that they will start flying internationally to the Caribbean but if JetBlue can do it , why not Southwest ?

    The biggest question to me is will they fly 737-700’s into all 22 new cities ? Some of them seem too small to support that size plane with any kind of frequency which Southwest always likes to do. Do I sense a smaller aircraft purchase in Southwest’s future, such as the EMB-190 ?

    Funny how Southwest was always the trendsetter among LCC’s but JetBlue has taken on that role too with SW
    following their lead to congested airports, such as BOS and LGA, and now the Caribbean and smaller cities too.

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