Why Southwest Reshaped its Network

Look for more sun routes and less business-to-business frequency.

Dear Readers,

Southwest Airlines is done waiting for travelers to return to their 2019 habits. Instead, it soon will fly more to where today's traveler wants to go — think warm, sunny destinations — when they want to fly. Look for the full changes early next year.

You may wonder what took so long. American came to this belief a couple of years ago, as it took airplanes from business-centric routes in Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles, and put them into the Southern United States. Around the same time, United reached the same conclusion about how Covid permanently altered travel preferences, but settled on a different approach, adding long-haul routes and global partners. So far, American and United have seen strong results.

Southwest altered its approach slightly, adding ski and sun markets. But the network mostly stayed intact, as if old patterns might re-emerge. On Thursday, during their second quarter earnings call, executives said they waited so long for a complete overhaul because they wanted to get it right. Now, they’re ready.

"It's really meant to just match the post-pandemic demand and travel patterns that we're seeing, to the network," CEO Bob Jordan told analysts.

How will flying change?

COO Andrew Watterson, who retained control of the network when he moved over from the chief commercial officer job last year, said travelers will see four changes.

1. Southwest is dropping frequencies in short-haul business markets, and adding flights on medium- and long-range routes that leisure travelers prefer. (One of my favorite routes, Burbank to San Francisco, has been cut.)

2. Like many competitors, Southwest will slash its Tuesday/Wednesday flying, since travelers increasingly don’t like to fly midweek, when many people must be in the office, even if they have a flexible work arrangement. Midweek capacity will decrease by seven-to-10 points, compared to other days.

3. Southwest will move the earliest and latest flights of the day, "which are typically your worst performers," to more palatable times for consumers, Watterson said.

4. Southwest, which entered Hawaii in 2019, will retool its network there, "as we've understood their seasonality demand patterns,” Watterson said.

Paying subscribers should read on for concrete examples of how Southwest’s flying will change, as well as a summary of two contentious exchanges between analysts and management.