Southwest Airlines CEO says it could still expand to more US cities including smaller ones
By APThursday, July 29, 2010
On the call: Southwest Airlines Co.
Southwest Airlines Co. serves 69 airports in the United States, but CEO Gary C. Kelly says there’s still room to grow before looking at international flights.
In the past year or so, Southwest has added service to Panama City, Fla., New York’s LaGuardia Airport, Boston, Minneapolis and Milwaukee. It plans service to Charleston and Greenville-Spartanburg, S.C., next year. There are still a handful of large cities it doesn’t serve, notably Atlanta, a base for Delta and AirTran. During a conference call Thursday with analysts and reporters to go over Southwest’s second-quarter earnings, Kelly was asked about growth plans.
QUESTION: Is Southwest starting to enter smaller cities as part of a strategy, and why go to those towns?
ANSWER: With 71 locations next year, “by definition the majority of (new ones) are going to be relatively small compared to our overall route network. But there are still a couple very large opportunities out there that we don’t serve … they will definitely be under consideration … So, no it’s not just Panama City-size cities that we’d be interested in, but we will evaluate them. There are new customers to win in those new cities.”
(This version CORRECTS that Southwest serves 69 airports, not 71.)
