Southwest Airlines Co. is pushing into two of the largest U.S. airports, signaling its plan to grab market share from bigger rivals hobbled bySouthwest will start service to Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport and Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport next year, the airline said Monday. The moves mean expanding Southwest’s already large footprint in Chicago to take on United Airlines Holdings Inc. and American Airlines Group Inc., and in Houston, to an airport where United dominates.
Southwest’s move is one of the first signs of the tectonic shifts under way in the industry as it tries to emerge from a crisis expected to have a deeper and longer-lasting impact on airlines’ finances than 9/11. Travel demand plunged 96% in April and the recovery has been partial, slow and inconsistent.
Though nearly 985,000 travelers passed through U.S. airports on Sunday––the highest level since mid-March––passenger volumes are still down over 60% from a year ago, according to the Transportation Security Administration. Airline executives say it will take a widely distributed vaccine for Covid-19, the illness caused by the new virus, to help bring demand back to 2019 levels.
“What do you do about it––just wait for [Covid-19] to be over? No, we’re not going to do that,” said Andrew Watterson, Southwest’s chief commercial officer, speaking at an aviation conference Monday. “Ultimately, to get out of this, we need more traffic, more revenue on board.”
chadmoutray Great news, finally to O’Hare
I honestly wish Southwest Airlines the best of luck. I have traveling on Southwest since 1987. They should give the two rivals a run for their money.
Adversity brings opportunity
And making loads of $ doing it
Seems like smart move.
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