Southwest Airlines Adds New Routes to Florida, Drops One Texas Route

Image: Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 on a taxiway. (photo via Southwest Airlines Media)
Image: Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 on a taxiway. (photo via Southwest Airlines Media)
Rich Thomaselli
by Rich Thomaselli
Last updated: 11:45 AM ET, Sun August 4, 2024

It’s a give and take.

Just as Southwest Airlines is preparing to launch route to Florida in time for this winter, the carrier said it would be exiting a major airport in the southwest.

Beginning in January, Southwest will fly to Palm Beach and Miami in Florida, as well as an additional flight to Palm Springs in California. The flight will emanate from multiple airports around the country.

“We continue to optimize our schedule for today’s customer—listening to their preferences and responding accordingly,” a spokesperson for Southwest said. “Southwest is happy to connect these traditionally colder locales with sunny skies and sand during the wintertime.”

The new routes will be seasonal, at first.

It will be a good test of Southwest’s new seating policy.

At the same time, Southwest is departing one major airport. As of Sunday, August 4, Southwest has flown its last flight in and out of George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston. It will still have a presence in the Texas city, however, as it concentrates its efforts at Houston Hobby.

Southwest lost $231 billion last quarter and this is part of a cost-cutting measure.

Southwest is also departing Cozumel, Syracuse and Bellingham, Washington. 


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Rich Thomaselli

Rich Thomaselli

Associate Writer

Editor Associate Writer true 9281 14744 Rich Thomaselli has written for TravelPulse since 2014 and has been a professional journalist for nearly 40 years. His work has appeared in USA Today, the New York Times and New York Yankees publications. He is an 11-time writ

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