Southwest Airlines Consolidates Northern California Flights
Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) announced today that it will cease flight operations at San Francisco International Airport on March 5, 2001 and will relocate most of its San Francisco operations to Oakland, San Jose, and Sacramento on that date. Southwest's San Francisco departures will continue to operate as presently scheduled through March 4, 2001. Ticketed passengers, passengers holding reservations, or passengers desiring to make reservations for flights to or from San Francisco International Airport have no need to alter their plans involving travel prior to March 4, 2001. Southwest will start contacting those passengers who are currently holding reservations into/out of San Francisco for the timeperiod of March 5, 2001 through June 8, 2001, in order to assist them in reaccommodating their air travel needs.
Southwest currently has 14 departures per day from San Francisco International Airport and, beginning March 5, 2001, eight of those will be shifted to Oakland International Airport and two to Sacramento International Airport. Orange County, Salt Lake City, and Las Vegas will also each receive one additional daily departure as a result of Southwest's cessation of San Francisco International Airport service.
Herbert D. Kelleher, chairman of Southwest, stated: "We are discontinuing service to San Francisco International Airport on March 5, 2001 for compelling business reasons. Our relatively small (14 out of 2700 daily flights) San Francisco International Airport operation has not been profitable for a considerable period of time; operation into and out of that airport produces a disproportionate number of flight delays rippling across our system; and the aircraft capacity devoted to San Francisco service is needed to satisfy passenger demand, primarily at our other rapidly growing California airports."
"Although we are discontinuing service at San Francisco International Airport on March 5, 2001, we hope to accommodate many of our San Francisco Customers and friends at Oakland and San Jose, our two outstanding, alternative Bay Area airports," Kelleher said. "While we do, indeed, regret that San Francisco International Airport will no longer be a part of Southwest's operations, we rejoice in the fact that we can still provide service to the wonderful people and City of San Francisco through both Oakland and San Jose."
Kelleher also stated that all of Southwest's SFO Employees have performed superbly and are being guaranteed jobs elsewhere on the Southwest system, with the opportunity to remain in the Bay Area if they so desire.
In its 30-year history, Southwest Airlines has only discontinued operations at three other airports: Detroit City Airport in 1993; Denver's Stapleton International Airport in 1986; and Beaumont/Port Arthur in 1980.
www.southwest.com
SOURCE Southwest Airlines
Web site: http: //www.southwest.com