Southwest Airlines is ready to land in LaGuardia Airport on June 28 with new service to Chicago and Baltimore.
Southwest Airlines announced Monday that they will officially debut in New York (sorry Long Island) on Sunday June 28. Southwest will fly out of LaGuardia Airport (my least favorite NY area airport) and provide low-fare service to both Chicago’s Midway Airport (my favorite Chicago airport) and Baltimore-Washington International Airport. Airfare to/from Chicago will start at $89 each-way, while Baltimore will set you back $49 each-way.
With Southwest moving into La Guardia, this gives the airline a chance to show one of the busiest air markets in the country what it has to offer. As I mentioned earlier, while Southwest is now a part of the Big Apple, it has been hanging around the NY area for years. Southwest Airlines has provided service out of Islip Airport on Long Island, which is about 50 miles from Manhattan.
So how did Southwest wind up in LaGuardia? When ATA Airlines filed for Chapter 11 last April (for the fourth time), Southwest swooped in and bought the vacated takeoff and landing slots. But this was the not the first time the two airlines crossed paths. Southwest and ATA once had a code-sharing agreement which allowed customers on Southwest to book flights also served by ATA. So since Southwest was already in the door, it was easier for them to realize how LaGaurdia worked and that they were in demand.
To show you how quickly Southwest Airlines is moving along with their move to New York, it was just last month that a federal bankruptcy judge granted Southwest’s $7.5 million bid for ATA’s 14 takeoff and landing slots. This would allow Southwest seven peak-period flights a day to and from La Guardia. After some wheeling and dealing, the low cost carrier was able to upgrade that to eight slots spread throughout the day.
Southwest Airlines will initially start off with five daily nonstop flights to Chicago and three to Baltimore. The other rumored cities to be added later include Boston and Atlanta. I personally look forward to flying aboard one of the better domestic airlines out there today.
Related Articles:
3/27/09: Southwest Is Coming To New York’s LaGuardia This Summer
