BNA-PDX one of these extensions haha. Not this one probably.

TPA-DTW & MSP will return.

I thought PAE is getting pushed back for enviornmental stuff?

But anway, usually this update is pretty uneventful if I remember correctly. (when it comes to new routes)

The next Southwest schedule extension is due out in 7 days, on June 28th. They'll be opening their schedule through March 6th 2019.

Of course, we should see the typical north-to-south increased frequencies/return of seasonal routes. Is this also finally when we'll get an update on PAE? Maybe we could see a couple more LAS routes? I remember Gary Kelly saying something about how he sees more growth for Southwest there.
I don't expect to see anything Hawaii related yet.

Anyone have anything they hope to see with WN?

Well unfortunately what I hope to see is not what I expect to see.
As you mentioned, seasonal increases to warm destinations will appear. I think the next release covering S19 will have Hawaiian routes.
My forecast:
Hawaii - 2019
Redeye flights - 2020
Canada - 2021
South America - 2022
Europe - 2025

WNflyer1523 wrote:

Maybe we could see a couple more LAS routes? I remember Gary Kelly saying something about how he sees more growth for Southwest there.

My predictions for WN expansion at LAS:

• Addition of LAS-CVG and LAS-MEM nonstop service
• LAS-MSP nonstop service extended from seasonal nonstop service to daily year-round nonstop service
• LAS-LGB nonstop service extended to daily nonstop service on a year-round basis if WN can acquire extra slots at LGB
• Revival of previously discontinued WN nonstop routes between LAS and the East Coast

Last year they had seasonal, weekend only DSM-PHX with the winter extension and last schedule release they added daily daily DSM-PHX thru the middle of December. Hopefully they bring back a daily flight or at least weekend service until April like last year.

Reminder - Easter comes April 21 next year. Be a great time to go to Hawaii.

Just sayin.

I’d like to see BNA-OKC or MCO-OKC go daily. Currently Sunday service.

BWI-SFO seems to be a hole in their network, although WN flies BWI-SJC/OAK/SMF and AS and UA fly BWI-SFO already. NK is cutting BWI-OAK in November-ish.

Notable that this extension will cover the transition from south terminal to the new north terminal here at MSY. The word is that pretty much everyone will be tight on gates until the switch because a few gates are being moved over early (which seems asinine to me). I'm not sure if we'll see it this extension because it only covers a few weeks before to a few weeks after, but I believe we will see some sizeable expansions, whether from WN or others once gates are no longer an issue. I'd think that a daily RDU and PIT would do well along with 1-2 weekly to MKE and ORF. Based on loadfactors, DEN and MDW could use more flights as well.

BWIAirport wrote:

BWI-SFO seems to be a hole in their network, although WN flies BWI-SJC/OAK/SMF and AS and UA fly BWI-SFO already. NK is cutting BWI-OAK in November-ish.

NKs exit may be WN's green light then. They may be able to charge a higher fare if they don't have to compete with NK.

jplatts wrote:

WNflyer1523 wrote:

Maybe we could see a couple more LAS routes? I remember Gary Kelly saying something about how he sees more growth for Southwest there.

My predictions for WN expansion at LAS:

• Addition of LAS-CVG and LAS-MEM nonstop service
• LAS-MSP nonstop service extended from seasonal nonstop service to daily year-round nonstop service
• LAS-LGB nonstop service extended to daily nonstop service on a year-round basis if WN can acquire extra slots at LGB
• Revival of previously discontinued WN nonstop routes between LAS and the East Coast

I don't get the impression they do that well in LAS intermediate/long-haul.

jplatts wrote:

WNflyer1523 wrote:

Maybe we could see a couple more LAS routes? I remember Gary Kelly saying something about how he sees more growth for Southwest there.

My predictions for WN expansion at LAS:

• Addition of LAS-CVG and LAS-MEM nonstop service
• LAS-MSP nonstop service extended from seasonal nonstop service to daily year-round nonstop service
• LAS-LGB nonstop service extended to daily nonstop service on a year-round basis if WN can acquire extra slots at LGB
• Revival of previously discontinued WN nonstop routes between LAS and the East Coast

LAS-ALB resumes in October. I wonder if they'll resume LAS-PVD and LAS-ISP. Maybe even LAS-MHT on a Saturday only basis?

evank516 wrote:

BWIAirport wrote:

BWI-SFO seems to be a hole in their network, although WN flies BWI-SJC/OAK/SMF and AS and UA fly BWI-SFO already. NK is cutting BWI-OAK in November-ish.

NKs exit may be WN's green light then. They may be able to charge a higher fare if they don't have to compete with NK.

I agree that the lack of WN BWI-SFO nonstop service is a hole. The lack of nonstop service to BWI from RNO and TUS are even bigger holes than the lack of WN nonstop service to BWI from SFO because there is currently no nonstop service to BWI, DCA, or IAD from RNO and TUS on any airline whereas WN already has nonstop service to BWI from OAK and SMF.

According to the DOT Domestic Consumer Airfare Report, there was an average of 269 passengers a day traveling between RNO and the Baltimore/Washington region (BWI, IAD, and DCA) in Q3 2017 and an average of 287 passengers a day traveling between TUS and the Baltimore/Washington region (BWI, IAD, and DCA) in Q3 2017. There is probably enough demand for WN to add nonstop service to RNO and TUS out of BWI.

WN would also be able to capture more of the leisure travel to the Lake Tahoe area from the East Coast (both in the Baltimore/Washington region and in other East Coast markets) if WN adds BWI-RNO nonstop service since WN would be able to connect passengers to RNO from other East Coast destinations through BWI. In addition, RNO is the closest commercial airport to Carson City (the capital city of Nevada), and there is government travel between RNO and BWI with RNO being the closest commercial airport to Carson City.

Maybe we can just post links to the last several "what will the new Southwest schedule bring" threads and save time?

WN is kind of thin with Bay Area long haul/transcon flights.

As NK cuts OAK-BWI, WN is suspending OAK-EWR at the end of the year too. WN's OAK-CMH is another route that went seasonal, but I recall flying BWI-CMH-OAK in Feb 2016, and as a BWI originating pax supported the CMH-OAK leg because the single BWI-OAK flight didn't fit my schedule.

Adding SFO-BWI might dilute from it's OAK-BWI as well, but maybe it could be serviced between April and November, when demand is higher. I'd think it would look into Hawaii flights for the Bay Area (notably OAK and SJC).

southwest1675 wrote:

BNA-PDX one of these extensions haha. Not this one probably.

One can only wish.

I'm going for BNA-PDX and MKE-PDX.

jplatts wrote:

evank516 wrote:

BWIAirport wrote:

BWI-SFO seems to be a hole in their network, although WN flies BWI-SJC/OAK/SMF and AS and UA fly BWI-SFO already. NK is cutting BWI-OAK in November-ish.

NKs exit may be WN's green light then. They may be able to charge a higher fare if they don't have to compete with NK.

I agree that the lack of WN BWI-SFO nonstop service is a hole. The lack of nonstop service to BWI from RNO and TUS are even bigger holes than the lack of WN nonstop service to BWI from SFO because there is currently no nonstop service to BWI, DCA, or IAD from RNO and TUS on any airline whereas WN already has nonstop service to BWI from OAK and SMF.

According to the DOT Domestic Consumer Airfare Report, there was an average of 269 passengers a day traveling between RNO and the Baltimore/Washington region (BWI, IAD, and DCA) in Q3 2017 and an average of 287 passengers a day traveling between TUS and the Baltimore/Washington region (BWI, IAD, and DCA) in Q3 2017. There is probably enough demand for WN to add nonstop service to RNO and TUS out of BWI.

WN would also be able to capture more of the leisure travel to the Lake Tahoe area from the East Coast (both in the Baltimore/Washington region and in other East Coast markets) if WN adds BWI-RNO nonstop service since WN would be able to connect passengers to RNO from other East Coast destinations through BWI. In addition, RNO is the closest commercial airport to Carson City (the capital city of Nevada), and there is government travel between RNO and BWI with RNO being the closest commercial airport to Carson City.

I would agree about BWI-RNO if it weren't for the extreme scarcity of flights from RNO to the East Coast in general. The only year round flight to the east coast is on B6 from JFK and even that is less than daily depending on the season. I'm not really sure RNO attracts much from the east coast and I'm not sure Lake Tahoe's proximity matters all that much, especially since you can also get there from SMF. Most people from the East Coast go to LAS over RNO, and I'm guessing if there was really a true market (though PDEW is pretty high for a route lacking nonstop flights), WN would have already started it.

knope2001 wrote:

Maybe we can just post links to the last several "what will the new Southwest schedule bring" threads and save time?

nah, this quarter I'm going with Corpus Christi to Spokane!

:0

ABQ-AUS. Currently WN does it on FR/SU, G4 on TU/TH/SU, and F9 on MO/WE/SA. Never seen anything like this before but we have all seven days a week covered by one of three airlines. What's really weird is that WN has 3 flights on Sundays. This is the southwest U.S., which is WN turf, lets see it go daily, WN. And while we're on the subject, lets see ABQ-SAT as well.

LGB extra flights will be extended into November and December. This is because JetBlue hasn't officially released the slots back to the city. It's more of we have a temporarily reduction in service. I think B6 is hesitant to give up complete control Incase the ramp up in BUR and ONT fail. So WN will not ramping up taking all the available slots only to potentially lose in later. I do expect Daily DEN added in November and December.

WN supposed to be starting Etops simulation flights on select flights from Oakland in the summer!
Any one else heard anything about this?

PAE push until FAA finishes it's new environmental impact report.

Flyguy

stlgph wrote:

knope2001 wrote:

Maybe we can just post links to the last several "what will the new Southwest schedule bring" threads and save time?

nah, this quarter I'm going with Corpus Christi to Spokane!

:0

Harlingen to Islip sounds good too

Didn’t Southwest already try service between BWI and Tucson? Maybe it was Saturday only or seasonal, but I know the route has been flown.

jplatts wrote:

evank516 wrote:

BWIAirport wrote:

BWI-SFO seems to be a hole in their network, although WN flies BWI-SJC/OAK/SMF and AS and UA fly BWI-SFO already. NK is cutting BWI-OAK in November-ish.

NKs exit may be WN's green light then. They may be able to charge a higher fare if they don't have to compete with NK.

I agree that the lack of WN BWI-SFO nonstop service is a hole. The lack of nonstop service to BWI from RNO and TUS are even bigger holes than the lack of WN nonstop service to BWI from SFO because there is currently no nonstop service to BWI, DCA, or IAD from RNO and TUS on any airline whereas WN already has nonstop service to BWI from OAK and SMF.

According to the DOT Domestic Consumer Airfare Report, there was an average of 269 passengers a day traveling between RNO and the Baltimore/Washington region (BWI, IAD, and DCA) in Q3 2017 and an average of 287 passengers a day traveling between TUS and the Baltimore/Washington region (BWI, IAD, and DCA) in Q3 2017. There is probably enough demand for WN to add nonstop service to RNO and TUS out of BWI.

WN would also be able to capture more of the leisure travel to the Lake Tahoe area from the East Coast (both in the Baltimore/Washington region and in other East Coast markets) if WN adds BWI-RNO nonstop service since WN would be able to connect passengers to RNO from other East Coast destinations through BWI. In addition, RNO is the closest commercial airport to Carson City (the capital city of Nevada), and there is government travel between RNO and BWI with RNO being the closest commercial airport to Carson City.

evank516 wrote:

stlgph wrote:

knope2001 wrote:

Maybe we can just post links to the last several "what will the new Southwest schedule bring" threads and save time?

nah, this quarter I'm going with Corpus Christi to Spokane!

:0

Harlingen to Islip sounds good too

Here’s an even better one... how about XNA to MAF, with the aircraft continuing on to GSP?

BNA-SEA goes year-round. Book it.

Either add or reduce OAK-BUR by one, as long as there is an even dozen lol.
Will WN add nonstop DSM-PIT? They could , ya know. Oh wait, they COULD add nonstop between any cities they serve.... It is such a hole in the WN network. Yeah, because no one flies it haha.
So many holes ion airline networks according to so many holes on here hahaha. Anyway. We'll see.....

I could see WN adding MKE-OAK and dropping MKE-SFO nonstop service since WN would be able to offer connections to destinations in Hawaii, the Pacific Northwest, and secondary airports in Greater Los Angeles from MKE through OAK if WN added MKE-OAK nonstop service.

Runway28L wrote:

But OAK-PIT is still a big oppertunity for WN imo and it’s been rumored for years.

WN has become very complicit at PIT after all the talk of expanding here to relieve BWI. If they wanted to add OAK-PIT then it better be sooner rather than later. UA recently made PIT-SFO year-round and added a 2nd daily flight. The door would really slam shut if AS were to jump in on PIT-Bay Area before WN.

I agree that WN adding PIT-OAK and PIT-SAN could happen, especially since PIT already has nonstop service to LAX on WN. WN also has opportunities to add nonstop service to OAK from other markets in the Midwestern US and Eastern US, including ALB, BOS, BUF, CVG, CLE, FLL, BDL, SDF, MEM, OMA, PHL, RDU, TPA, and IAD.

WN could add SAN-BOS, SAN-MSP, and SAN-OMA nonstop service in order to better compete against AS at SAN, and WN could also add SAN-RDU nonstop service in response to F9 adding SAN-RDU nonstop service.

While WN does already serve BWI nonstop from LAX, OAK, and SJC, WN could add LAX-IAD, OAK-IAD, and SJC-IAD nonstop service in order to better compete against AS in California. While IAD and BWI are both in the Baltimore/Washington region, IAD and BWI are almost 60 miles apart from each other with IAD being located west of Washington, DC and with BWI being located east of Washington, DC. Many of the high-tech companies in the DC area are also closer to IAD than to BWI or DCA, and WN can capture more of the Silicon Valley to DC business travel by adding SJC-IAD nonstop service.

Southwest can stimulate additional demand for CVG-MCO service if it added CVG-MCO nonstop service. There is actually significantly more O&D demand to MCO from some markets similar in size to CVG or smaller than CVG that already have nonstop service to MCO on WN, including ALB, AUS, BUF, CMH, BDL, IND, MCI, MKE, BNA, and RDU. WN can likely do well on CVG-MCO nonstop service if it added CVG-MCO nonstop service since WN already has brand recognition in the Cincinnati market.

WN could also extend CVG-PHX nonstop service to year round and WN could also add CVG-HOU nonstop service in order to fill in the void left by F9 cuts at CVG.

flymco753 wrote:

TPA-DTW & MSP will return.

Not this extension. It will be on the next one which fills in spring Break in March\April

This extension is only to March 6th. Spring break will be on the next extension which is how WN normally does this. SOME north/south flying will be in this one, like MSP-RSW for spring training in February.

Jplatts - good luck with that LAS-MSP prediction. Just like DAL not sticking around, LAS won’t be daily yet until WN can get more gate space utilization at MSP. Fairly tight in T2

Runway28L wrote:

mtnwest1979 wrote:

Will WN add nonstop DSM-PIT? They could , ya know. Oh wait, they COULD add nonstop between any cities they serve.... It is such a hole in the WN network. Yeah, because no one flies it haha.
So many holes ion airline networks according to so many holes on here hahaha. Anyway. We'll see.....

You’re kidding right?

I don’t see WN doing DSM-PIT at all. But OAK-PIT is still a big oppertunity for WN imo and it’s been rumored for years.

WN has become very complicit at PIT after all the talk of expanding here to relieve BWI. If they wanted to add OAK-PIT then it better be sooner rather than later. UA recently made PIT-SFO year-round and added a 2nd daily flight. The door would really slam shut if AS or even NK were to jump in on PIT-Bay Area before WN.

DSM-PIT was a joke

msycajun wrote:

Notable that this extension will cover the transition from south terminal to the new north terminal here at MSY. The word is that pretty much everyone will be tight on gates until the switch because a few gates are being moved over early (which seems asinine to me). I'm not sure if we'll see it this extension because it only covers a few weeks before to a few weeks after, but I believe we will see some sizeable expansions, whether from WN or others once gates are no longer an issue. I'd think that a daily RDU and PIT would do well along with 1-2 weekly to MKE and ORF. Based on loadfactors, DEN and MDW could use more flights as well.

Except the load factors for the seasonal Sunday only MSY-PIT were, to say the least, dismal, from what I read in the PIT Discussion thread.

Runway28L wrote:

You’re kidding right?

I don’t see WN doing DSM-PIT at all.

I detected quite a bit of sarcasm in that DSM-PIT rumor, to be honest.

But OAK-PIT is still a big oppertunity for WN imo and it’s been rumored for years.

WN has become very complicit at PIT after all the talk of expanding here to relieve BWI. If they wanted to add OAK-PIT then it better be sooner rather than later. UA recently made PIT-SFO year-round and added a 2nd daily flight. The door would really slam shut if AS or even NK were to jump in on PIT-Bay Area before WN.

Which would make more business sense for WN if they were to expand to the Bay Area: PIT-SJC or PIT-OAK? I get that WN has a base at OAK, but if they were going after business travel, then SJC would seem to be a better option since it's closer to the tech businesses of Silicon Valley than OAK. I didn't include SFO (1) because of UA's double-daily service and (2) because WN seems to be emphasizing expansion at SJC over SFO to avoid an inevitable three-way fare war with UA and AS.

The door isn't just closing on PIT-Bay Area for WN, but I would think that F9's planned PIT-SAN flight might also slam the door shut on any planned service on that route from WN (though, given F9's dartboard strategy, especially at PIT, that door might not close as quickly as some might suggest).

MSN is going to be announcing a new airline and 2 new nonstop routes next week, and WN starting service out of MSN is a possibility since WN is going to be extending its schedule next week on 6/28. The upcoming MSN announcement is being discussed at https://www.airliners.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1383559&start=50#p20503261.

jplatts wrote:

MSN is going to be announcing a new airline and 2 new nonstop routes next week, and WN starting service out of MSN is a possibility since WN is going to be extending its schedule next week on 6/28. The upcoming MSN announcement is being discussed at https://www.airliners.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1383559&start=50#p20503261.

Since MSN is expecting an announcement of only two new flights, I'm skeptical that WN is starting service there.

LotsaRunway wrote:

jplatts wrote:

MSN is going to be announcing a new airline and 2 new nonstop routes next week, and WN starting service out of MSN is a possibility since WN is going to be extending its schedule next week on 6/28. The upcoming MSN announcement is being discussed at https://www.airliners.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1383559&start=50#p20503261.

Since MSN is expecting an announcement of only two new flights, I'm skeptical that WN is starting service there.

It has to be Allegiant.

ctrabs0114 wrote:

Which would make more business sense for WN if they were to expand to the Bay Area: PIT-SJC or PIT-OAK? I get that WN has a base at OAK, but if they were going after business travel, then SJC would seem to be a better option since it's closer to the tech businesses of Silicon Valley than OAK. I didn't include SFO (1) because of UA's double-daily service and (2) because WN seems to be emphasizing expansion at SJC over SFO to avoid an inevitable three-way fare war with UA and AS.

The door isn't just closing on PIT-Bay Area for WN, but I would think that F9's planned PIT-SAN flight might also slam the door shut on any planned service on that route from WN (though, given F9's dartboard strategy, especially at PIT, that door might not close as quickly as some might suggest).

I believe TUS is the only route WN is flying at SJC that they aren't at OAK and that's likely just a response to AS. So it would be odd to start SJC instead of OAK. SJC is certainly more convenient for the South Bay but East Bay + SF is a much larger market.

WN732 wrote:

LotsaRunway wrote:

jplatts wrote:

MSN is going to be announcing a new airline and 2 new nonstop routes next week, and WN starting service out of MSN is a possibility since WN is going to be extending its schedule next week on 6/28. The upcoming MSN announcement is being discussed at https://www.airliners.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1383559&start=50#p20503261.

Since MSN is expecting an announcement of only two new flights, I'm skeptical that WN is starting service there.

It has to be Allegiant.

Could be NK. Wouldn't be surprising considering they just added GSO and AVL.

WN732 wrote:

LotsaRunway wrote:

jplatts wrote:

MSN is going to be announcing a new airline and 2 new nonstop routes next week, and WN starting service out of MSN is a possibility since WN is going to be extending its schedule next week on 6/28. The upcoming MSN announcement is being discussed at https://www.airliners.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1383559&start=50#p20503261.

Since MSN is expecting an announcement of only two new flights, I'm skeptical that WN is starting service there.

It has to be Allegiant.

I'll bet my life it's not WN. MSN to MKE is about an hour and a half drive, so if anyone around Madison wants to fly WN, they'll drive to MKE and I'm sure WN sees that.

It is a Tuesday announcement so I also doubt it is WN.

WN would have added FAT before MSN.

How about TPA/MCO-BOS? They are logical adds in my opinion and don't know why WN never flew those routes. B6 had the BOS-TPA route for themselves for a while and then DL jumped in with 2 daily flights and now going up to 3.

avi8 wrote:

How about TPA/MCO-BOS? They are logical adds in my opinion and don't know why WN never flew those routes. B6 had the BOS-TPA route for themselves for a while and then DL jumped in with 2 daily flights and now going up to 3.

With DL, B6 and NK all serving the market with up to 9 flights as day Southwest is probably like “what’s the point?”.

FLYKTPA wrote:

avi8 wrote:

How about TPA/MCO-BOS? They are logical adds in my opinion and don't know why WN never flew those routes. B6 had the BOS-TPA route for themselves for a while and then DL jumped in with 2 daily flights and now going up to 3.

With DL, B6 and NK all serving the market with up to 9 flights as day Southwest is probably like “what’s the point?”.

because they'd get killed on that route. Same reason, they don't try EWR-TPA and cut EWR-MCO down to once daily. DL is not doing so hot on those 2 routes either btw.

So... Anyone see anything happening at ISP this round?

^ They have like what.. 7 unused gates?

jplatts wrote:

MSN is going to be announcing a new airline and 2 new nonstop routes next week, and WN starting service out of MSN is a possibility since WN is going to be extending its schedule next week on 6/28. .

WN732 wrote:

WN would have added FAT before MSN.

I've heard not to expect new cities for WN before 2020 except for Hawaii and PAE.