Tag Archives: Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport

Southwest Airlines announces new routes from Dallas and Washington’s Reagan National Airport, Mexico City and AirTran Airways final flight on December 28

Southwest Airlines (Dallas) adding to what we previously reported, today published dozens of new nonstop markets for Customers flying the carrier from Dallas Love Field and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. The schedule also includes new Southwest Airlines service to an additional Caribbean destination—Punta Cana, Dominican Republic—as well as to North America’s largest metropolitan area, Mexico City (replacing AirTran Airways).

New, nonstop service for Dallas Love Field:

Beginning October 13, 2014, Southwest will offer nonstop service between Dallas and:

Baltimore/Washington (three roundtrips a day)
Chicago Midway (five roundtrips a day, up to six as of November 2)
Denver (three roundtrips a day)
Las Vegas (three roundtrips a day, up to four as of November 2)
Los Angeles (three roundtrips a day, up to four as of November 2)
Orlando (two roundtrips a day, up to three as of November 2)
Washington Reagan National (three roundtrips a day, up to six as of November 2)

Beginning November 2, 2014, Southwest will offer nonstop service between Dallas and:

Atlanta (four roundtrips a day)
Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood (two roundtrips a day)
Nashville (two roundtrips a day)
New York LaGuardia (three roundtrips a day)
Phoenix (four roundtrips a day)
San Diego (two roundtrips a day)
Santa Ana/Orange County (one roundtrip a day)
Tampa (two roundtrips a day)

Southwest Airlines also announced today new nonstop service between Washington Reagan National Airport and both Akron/Canton and Indianapolis beginning on November 2, 2014, increasing the carrier’s service at Reagan National from a present day offering of 17 departures to 44 departures a day by year’s end to a total 14 destinations: Atlanta, Akron/Canton, Austin, Chicago Midway, Dallas Love Field, Houston Hobby, Fort Myers, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Milwaukee, Nashville, New Orleans, St. Louis, and Tampa.

Southwest Airlines also will add new nonstop service between Washington Dulles and both Las Vegas and San Diego, and to existing nonstop destinations of Chicago Midway and Denver.

Southwest Airlines continues its historic launch of international service with two additional destinations—Mexico City and Punta Cana, Dominican Republic—to be added on November 2, 2014, to the carrier’s network map of more than 90 destinations across five countries in North America and the Caribbean.

AirTran Airways will be fully integrated into Southwest Airlines by the end of 2014:

AirTran Airways flight 1 (Southwest 5001) will operate on Sunday, December 28, 2014, as the carrier’s final scheduled departure. The evening flight from Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport to Tampa reprises the first flight the carrier operated on October 26, 1993 (as ValuJet). Southwest Airlines Company announced its acquisition of AirTran Airways in September 2010, and closed the transaction on May 2, 2011. The FAA awarded the Company a single operating certificate for the two carriers on March 1, 2012, and the Company plans to close 2014 with wholly owned subsidiary AirTran fully-integrated into Southwest Airlines serving a network of 93 destinations in five countries.

Copyright Photo: Marcelo F. De Biasi/AirlinersGallery.com. Goodbye AirTran Airways. We now have the date when AirTran Airways will operate its last flight – December 28, 2014. The sun will set for AirTran in Tampa on that Sunday in December. Last flight 5001 is due to be operated with a 117-seat Boeing 717-200 (going to Delta on lease) departing ATL at 10:25 pm (2225) and arriving in TPA at 11:55 pm (2355). AirTran’s Boeing 717-2BD N996AT (msn 55140) soars into the sky at Washington’s Reagan National Airport (DCA).

AirTran Airways:

Southwest Airlines:

Virgin America lands in Dallas Love Field to announce its new routes starting on October 13

Virgin America (San Francisco) today announced it is launching sales on its new business-friendly flights from Dallas’ Love Field (DAL) to New York’s LaGuardia Airport (LGA), Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and San Francisco International Airport (SFO). The new flights take off in October 2014.

To announce the news today, the airline made a surprise landing with one of its custom-designed Airbus A320 aircraft at Love Field – where it is hosting an “open plane” event for media, Elevate® loyalty members, partners and social media fans.

According to the carrier, “Virgin America’s flights from DAL will bring needed fare and product competition to the market. At present, one carrier controls 80 percent of the Love Field gates (16 of 20) and more than 90 percent of the traffic. An August 2013 study conducted by Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers found that of airports in its size class, DAL had the largest increase in average fares from 2007-2012 – a 37% jump.

The addition of Love Field will significantly expand Virgin America’s presence in Texas. SFO, LAX and DCA to DAL flight service starts on October 13, 2014, and LGA to DAL flight service starts on October 28, 2014. The carrier’s initial Love Field nonstop flight schedule is as below:

In 2015, Virgin America plans to add an additional daily flight from DAL to SFO, LAX and DCA, bringing each route to four daily nonstop flights. In addition, the airline plans to add two new daily nonstop flights from DAL to Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) in 2015. Virgin America will move its current operations from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) to DAL in October 2014.

The new routes will also expand Virgin America’s footprint in Washington D.C. and New York. In the last six months, the airline invested in assets being sold as part of the American Airlines merger settlement, including airport slots at LGA and DCA – both airports where access historically has been constrained and where consumers have had less fare and product competition as a result. Virgin America will be only the second low-cost airline to serve all three major New York-area airports.

What was left unstated, Virgin America is dropping service to Philadelphia (an US Airways, soon American Airlines fortress hub) after October 6 to free up the aircraft for the new DAL routes. US/AA will have less competition at PHL, not what the DOJ had in mind.

Copyright Photo: Jay Selman/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A320-214 N361VA (msn 5515) with Sharklets approaches the runway at Las Vegas.

Virgin America:

Route Map: New routes from DAL:

Video: Virgin America in 2 minutes:

Southwest announces seven new routes from Washington Reagan National Airport

Southwest Airlines (Dallas) today announced that it is more than doubling its flights at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) with seven new nonstop routes and additional connecting itineraries beginning this summer.

Beginning August 10, 2014, Southwest Airlines will add daily, nonstop flights between Washington National Airport and:

Chicago (Midway) with six roundtrips at introductory fares as low as $119 one-way
Nashville with three roundtrips at introductory fares as low as $129 one-way
New Orleans with two roundtrips at introductory fares as low as $129 one-way

Beginning September 30, 2014, Southwest will further add to its DCA service:

Tampa, with two roundtrips at introductory fares as low as $84 one-way
Three additional flights to Chicago (Midway) for a total of nine daily roundtrips. This expanded pattern of service to Midway will also enable Southwest to provide convenient one-stop and connecting flights throughout the day between DCA and more than 40 other cities across the United States.

Beginning November 2, 2014, Southwest Airlines will add additional daily nonstop service between Washington Reagan National Airport and:

Akron-Canton (new route)
Dallas (Love Field) (new route)
Houston (Hobby) (additional flights)
Indianapolis (new route)
St. Louis (additional flights)

Southwest Airlines also today announces new service between:

St. Louis and San Francisco, daily nonstop roundtrip begins September 30, 2014, at introductory fares as low as $119 one-way
Los Angeles and Omaha, daily nonstop roundtrip begins June 9, 2014, at introductory fares as low as $159 one-way
St. Louis and Los Angeles, third daily nonstop roundtrip begins June 8, 2014
Boise and Los Angeles, (Saturday only) nonstop roundtrip begins June 14, 2014

Copyright Photo: Brian McDonough/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 737-8H4 N8622A (msn 36919) arrives at Washington’s Reagan National Airport (DCA).

Southwest Airlines:

JetBlue Airways to drop five routes in order to redeploy aircraft on new routes to Washington’s Reagan National Airport

JetBlue Airways (New York) as we previously reported, was awarded a package of 12 more slot pairs at the slot-controlled Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA).

As a result, JetBlue is forced to move aircraft from underperforming routes to these new DCA routes. This will be accomplished by ending service in the following markets:

West Palm Beach – San Juan: last flight both directions is June 16

San Francisco – Austin: last flight is June 15, Austin – San Francisco: last flight is June 16

Oakland – Washington (Dulles): last flight is June 15, Washington (Dulles) – Oakland: last flight is June 16

Long Beach – Washington (Dulles): last flight is September 1, Washington (Dulles) – Long Beach: last flight is Sept. 2

Buffalo – Fort Myers: this seasonal market will not resume in November

Customers with reservations for these affected flights after the last operating date will be contacted with the option to be reaccommodated on other JetBlue flights or to cancel their reservation and receive a full refund.

Copyright Photo: Brian McDonough/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A320-232 N537JT (msn 1785) lands at Washington’s Reagan National Airport (DCA).

JetBlue Airways:

JetBlue announces its new routes for Washington’s Reagan National Airport

JetBlue Airways (New York) today announced details of its upcoming expansion at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) with new low-fare service to three destinations beginning June 19, 2014: Charleston, South Carolina; Hartford, Connecticut; and Nassau, Bahamas (subject to receipt of government operating authority).

JetBlue plans to offer twice-daily service to both Charleston and Hartford/Springfield, as well as once-daily year-round service to Nassau. In addition to these three new destinations from Washington, JetBlue will boost its existing service to Tampa, Florida, with a second daily flight effective July 2, 2014.

Together, these six new daily departures represent half the new flights JetBlue has earned the right to operate by acquiring slots as a result of the recent American Airlines-US Airways divestiture proceedings. More details of JetBlue’s DCA expansion, which will bring the airline’s daily departure count to 30, will be announced later this year.

This summer JetBlue will offer customers 24 daily roundtrip flights from DCA to eight cities: Boston, Charleston, Hartford/Springfield, Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood, Nassau, Orlando, and Tampa, as well as the only nonstop service to San Juan, Puerto Rico from Washington’s popular downtown airport.

JetBlue’s three newest Reagan National destinations will be served with 100-seat Embraer ERJ 190 jets, featuring spacious two-by-two seating, the most legroom in coach (c), seatback entertainment including 36 channels of free DIRECTV® programming and more than 100 channels of free SiriusXM® satellite radio (d), unlimited free snacks and soft drinks, and JetBlue’s acclaimed in-flight customer service. With JetBlue, customers can also enjoy a first checked bag free of charge (e).

Schedules for JetBlue’s New Reagan National Destinations

Charleston (CHS)
DCA – CHS	CHS – DCA
12:20 p.m. – 01:53 p.m.	07:25 a.m. – 08:52 a.m.
06:30 p.m. – 08:06 p.m.	02:35 p.m. – 04:04 p.m.
Saturday schedule varies slightly

Hartford (BDL)
DCA – BDL	BDL – DCA
09:25 a.m. – 10:46 a.m.	06:35 a.m. – 07:59 a.m.
07:25 p.m. – 08:50 p.m.	06:30 p.m. – 07:54 p.m.

Nassau (NAS)*
DCA – NAS	NAS – DCA
09:55 a.m. – 12:29 p.m.	01:55 – 04:30 p.m.
Saturday schedule varies slightly. Subject to receipt of government operating authority*

In addition to its presence at Reagan National, JetBlue also serves the National Capital Region with daily flights from Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport and Washington Dulles International Airport.

Copyright Photo: Brian McDonough/AirlinersGallery.com. Embraer ERJ 190-100 IGW N258JB (msn 19000047) in the Windowpane tail design arrives at Washington’s Reagan National Airport (DCA).

JetBlue Airways: