Boston, MA 06/13/2014 (wallstreetpr) – Southwest Airlines Co (NYSE:LUV) on June 7, 2014 ended services to three cities- Branson, Mo, Key West, Fla. and Jackson, Miss. Southwest Airlines, the Dallas-based airlines had announced on December 5, 2013 itself that it will pull out these three cities because there was not enough demand.
Statement from the Chief Commercial Officer of Southwest Airlines
The Chief Commercial Officer of Southwest Airlines Co (NYSE:LUV), Bob Jordan said that because the level of demand in these three cities does not allow Southwest to serve them profitably, therefore it was retracting its services from there. He also added that Southwest has nevertheless become a great choice for the travelers in cities that are currently being served.
When did the flights to these cities start?
The flights to Jackson started on August 9, 1997 after the federal law known as Shelby amendment, added Kansas, Mississippi and Alabama to the states which were easily accessible and had nonstop connectivity from Dallas Love Field.
Key West and Branson were inherited by Southwest in the merger of Southwest Airlines Co (NYSE:LUV) with AirTran Airways Inc. which took place in the year 2011. The Southwest flights to the city of Key West were initiated on November 4, 2012. Flights to the city of Branson commenced on March 9, 2013.
Market share of Southwest in these three cities
Out of all the three markets, only Branson was dominated by Southwest Airlines Co (NYSE:LUV). In Branson, Southwest and AirTran had carried 75.1% air traffic with 199000 passengers in the year ending February 28, 2014. Southwest stood at a #2 position in Key West as well as Jackson, where it carried approximately 25.2% of passengers in Jackson in comparison to 25.5% for ExpressJet Inc. In Key West, Southwest carried 27.8% passengers in contrast with 28.2% of Delta Air Lines Inc.
Services to eight airports retracted in all
After the June 7, 2014 retraction of Southwest from the three cities, it ended the services to a total of eight airports as of now, ever since its inception. Now, Branson also has the record of shortest time period of association (only 15 months) with Southwest.
