Southwest Airlines
is the largest low-cost carrier in the US. As a budget airline, Southwest has positioned itself as a dominant player in many large leisure markets. With bases in places like Orlando and Las Vegas, it has become the airline of choice for leisure travelers nationwide.
Florida is a large market for travelers looking to enjoy the state’s warm weather, beaches, and theme parks. Southwest offers a robust schedule in cities across the Sunshine State, including Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers. Though not a base, Southwest offers several routes at a higher frequency than daily service.
Southwest’s shrinking network
Southwest has extensive operations in Florida, but not all destinations in the Sunshine State are growing. The budget carrier has recently encountered financial headwinds that have forced it to reevaluate its business model and network.
Photo: Southwest Airlines
As a result, Southwest cut several cities from its network:
According to ESPN Southwest Flordia, travelers can no longer fly Southwest to these destinations from Fort Myers. While none of these cities were connected to Fort Myers with direct flights, even with a layover at a Southwest base, customers will have to look elsewhere if looking to travel to those destinations.
The importance of frequencies in Southwest’s network
Southwest has become known for many of its unique business practices. It differentiates itself from legacy, low-cost, and ultra-low-cost carriers with various customer-friendly perks, most famously its two-free checked bag policy. Beyond this, in many important markets, Southwest offers high flight frequency to maximize customers’ choices.
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For example, the intra-California market sees heavy flight frequency between essential business centers and Southwest bases. A look at the Southwest website reveals that the airline offers eight daily flights between San Diego International Airport and Oakland International Airport.
However, leisure destinations like Fort Myers don’t have the same demand for business travel and, thus, very frequent flights. Therefore, Southwest’s direct service frequency is much lower than that of other major markets like California or Texas. However, Southwest still capitalizes on point-to-point demand and connectivity to major bases to offer elevated frequency in some markets from the Florida gateway.
Southwest’s Fort Myers operations at a glance
Southwest first began serving Southwest Florida International Airport on October 2, 2005. According to the airline, its initial schedule consisted of 9 daily departures to five cities:
- Baltimore (BWI)
- Chicago Midway (MDW)
- Long Island/Islip MacArthur (ISP)
- Orlando (MCO)
- Philadelphia (PHL)
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Today, that schedule has grown to be much larger, with the carrier offering up to 47 daily flights to 22 cities. These routes connect passengers to Southwest bases and several markets across the country that have enough demand for direct Fort Myers service.
Of the original schedule, Southwest no longer offers direct service to Long Island, Orlando, or Philadelphia. However, it has added routes to destinations like Denver, Grand Rapids, Hartford, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Minneapolis, and Nashville. It also recently announced the restoration of twice-daily flights to Orlando. The airline uses four gates and employs 151 people at the airport, a majority of whom work in ground operations.
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Service to Baltimore
Southwest’s busiest route from Fort Myers is to Baltimore Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. This should come as no surprise to anyone who knows the basics of Southwest’s route network. According to the Department of Transportation Statistics, Baltimore is Southwest’s fourth-busiest city, based on the number of passengers flown.
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Baltimore serves a critical role in Southwest’s network. As the airline’s east coast gateway, Southwest offers many connections from the airport to other East Coast destinations like Boston, Albany, Charlotte, and New York LaGuardia. By providing more frequency from Fort Myers, Southwest is boosting its connectivity from the Floridian city to the rest of its network.
According to Cirium, an aviation data analytics company, Baltimore is Southwest’s busiest route from Fort Myers by a wide margin. In December 2024, Southwest will offer 126 flights each way, which equates to 252 flights between the cities. As a result, an impressive 40,612 seats are flown between the two cities.
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A mix of 737 variants operates the service. In fact, every 737 type currently operated by Southwest is used on the route this month: the 737-700, -800, and MAX 8. The smaller 737-700 variant seats only 143 people in an all-economy layout, while the Boeing 737-800s and MAX 8s seat 175 in a one-class cabin.
Service to Chicago Midway
Southwest’s second-busiest route from Fort Myers in terms of frequency is to Chicago Midway International Airport (MDW). The Windy City is the carrier’s third-busiest base and offers impressive connectivity across the rest of the Southwest Airlines network.
Photo: Scott Olson | Getty Images
In December 2024, Southwest will operate 186 flights between the two destinations, 96 in each direction, offering 30,758 seats. Like the Baltimore service, flights are offered using a mix of every Boeing 737 variant currently in the fleet.
Offering more seats to Chicago is a strategic choice with a similar rationale to Southwest’s more extensive Baltimore service from the Floridian city. Midway is a central connecting point for Southwest customers. The carrier offers up to 250 daily departures to 79 cities nationwide and beyond.
Photo: Chicago Midway Airport
The airline has over 6,000 employees in Chicago and utilizes 37 gates. With such heavy investments in the gateway, its no surprise that Southwest boasts a 90% market share at Midway.
More service to the Midwest
The next three routes offered more than once daily are all to cities in the midwestern US. Unlike the first two routes mentioned, these do not connect to major Southwest bases: Saint Louis, Indianapolis, and Columbus.
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying
Though not a base for Southwest, Saint Louis sees extensive flights from the low-cost carrier. The airline offers up to 137 daily departures from the Missouri city, and has routes to over 60 destinations across the US. With services ranging from Boston to Oakland, passengers have plenty of options thanks to a stop in STL.
This month, 154 flights will be offered between the two cities, which equates to 77 in each direction. 24,838 seats will be available total, making it the third-busiest Southwest route from Fort Myers.
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Trailing Saint Louis is Southwest’s service to Indianapolis. This city provides very little connectivity to the Southwest network, meaning there must be heavy demand between the Indiana city and Fort Myers. The airline has up to 53 daily departures to 19 cities, and its nonstop network stretches as far west as Las Vegas and east as Miami.
Close behind Saint Louis, the Indianapolis services offer a total of 150 flights in December 2024. With 75 flights in either direction, 23,594 seats are up for sale.
The last Midwest service that receives direct flights more than once daily from RSW is Columbus, Ohio. Like Indianapolis, Ohio’s capital city offers little strategic importance to the airline but still supports up to 47 daily Southwest Airlines flights to 22 cities.
Photo: John Glenn Columbus International Airport (CMH)
71 flights are offered in each direction, totaling 142 monthly flights between the cities. With 21,970 seats, there is heavy local demand for leisure travelers looking to ditch the cold December winter in favor of beaches and warmer weather. The Midwest seems to be a profitable market for Florida flights, which Southwest has managed to capitalize on quite extensively through its schedule.
Service to Nashville
The last destination on the list is Nashville International Airport, which is also Southwest’s newest crew base. The carrier has been serving Nashville for quite some time, having first launched service in March 1986 as the 22nd city in the airline’s network. Initial flights were several daily flights to Chicago Midway and Houston Hobby.
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In August 2023, Southwest announced that Nashville would become its 12th base. Today, the airline offers up to 174 daily flights to 76 cities. It employs almost 3,000 people, including over 600 pilots and over 1,000 flight attendants. Its portfolio of nonstop routes is extensive, stretching from coast to coast in the United States.
This month, 18,856 seats will be offered across 120 Southwest flights between Fort Myers and Nashville. While there is likely extensive local demand for the route, with Nashville’s relatively new status as a Southwest base, connecting passengers through this city will likely lead to enhanced efficiency for Southwest.
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Looking ahead
Southwest has entered one of the most transformative periods in its 50-year history. This past summer, the airline announced plans to break away from some familiar parts of its business model. The airline will begin assigning seats to passengers and will retrofit its aircraft with extra legroom seats.
Photo: Southwest Airlines
Despite the changes, Southwest has reaffirmed its commitment to offering all its customers free checked bags and flexible tickets. Throughout its 50-year history, Southwest has gained a loyal following. However, it should be careful which decisions it makes regarding the operating model that allowed it to become one of the world’s largest airlines.
Southwest’s management has expressed confidence that this new strategy will allow it to remain competitive in the airline industry without losing the values and philosophy that have defined it since its inception. Regardless, change could be on the horizon for Southwest and thus the destinations it serves.