Baltimore to Los Angeles will be a first for Southwest

In addition to the company's first coast-to-coast flight, Southwest also announces additional routes between Tampa and the Northeast.

By STEVE HUETTEL, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published May 8, 2002

Southwest Airlines, which was born as a inter-Texas shuttle and stayed profitable flying frequent, short-hop routes, is launching its first coast-to-coast flight.

The low-fare airline will begin flying between Baltimore-Washington International and Los Angeles -- a 2,329-mile, 51/2-hour trip -- on Sept. 15.

Not that long flights are new to Southwest. The airline offers dozens of long routes, including nonstop flights from Tampa International Airport to Las Vegas and Phoenix. But 80 percent of its routes are still 750 miles or less.

The only major carrier to earn profits since Sept. 11, Southwest is buying new Boeing 737 jets and expanding its route system,

Southwest is getting a bigger bang for the buck using the planes to connect cities it already serves than renting gates, hiring new staff and buying advertising to jump into new markets, said Jim Parker, an airline analyst with Raymond James & Associates.

"It's a very profitable expansion strategy," he said. "They're tying together the dots, leveraging their existing airport assets and taking advantage of their loyal, strong customer base."

Southwest also sees a chance to steal customers from competitors, especially business travelers fed up with high walk-up fares. The airline will offer an unrestricted coach fare of $322 each way and a seven-day advance purchase fare of $99.

In addition to the new transcontinental routes, Southwest will add flights between Florida and two cities on the fringe of Boston.

Starting Oct. 6, the airline will make a second daily flight between Tampa and Manchester, N.H., and a third daily flight between Tampa and Providence, R.I. Southwest also will add one daily flight between each of the New England cities and Orlando.

The additional flights fill a void left by US Airways' low-fare division, MetroJet, which was shut down in December.

MetroJet's demise left Delta Air Lines as the only carrier with nonstop flights from Tampa to Boston's Logan International Airport, although Southwest markets Manchester and Providence as more convenient alternatives.

-- Steve Huettel can be reached at huettel@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3384.

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