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Airline's Changes Bring Extra Flight To Tampa Airport

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By TED JACKOVICS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 10, 2008

Updated: 01/09/2008 09:13 pm

TAMPA - For the first time in its history Southwest Airlines announced a major seasonal change in schedules beginning May 10 that will add flights in growth markets - including Tampa - and trim flights elsewhere.
Tampa International Airport will gain one round-trip, nonstop flight overall. Southwest will retain its 31 nonstop destinations from Tampa.

By comparison, Orlando International Airport will lose four round-trip Southwest flights, Fort Myers one, and Fort Lauderdale and Jacksonville will break even from changes.

Southwest will add a second daily round-trip flight between Tampa and Las Vegas, a second daily flight to Pittsburgh and a fifth daily flight to Philadelphia.

The Dallas-based airline will trim one nonstop flight between Tampa and two cities: Chicago, which will have six serving Midway airport, and Louisville,Ky., which will have one.

Certain flights involving code-share arrangements between Southwest and ATA Airlines could be affected, such as connections between Tampa and Hawaii. Details of ATA schedules and possible changes were not available Wednesday.

"This is a good sign for us," Tampa International director Louis Miller said about Southwest, the airport's busiest airline with about 27 percent of the local market share last year.

"It makes sense to add flights to some of the stronger markets. It is also a good sign that Southwest is committed to Tampa in a time when the economy appears to be declining."

Airlines nationwide are trimming flights in order to save on fuel and are raising fares as flights become more full. Southwest officials also have mentioned concerns with the national economy in 2008.

Miller expects Tampa International to lose ridership compared with a year ago when it tallies its final December numbers. He attributed a similar decline in November - the first after a string of record-setting increases - to a slowdown in the economy.

New "optimization technology" allowed Southwest to make seasonal adjustments that the airline was not able to do before, Southwest spokeswoman Marilee Mcinnis in Dallas said.

" ... For the first time, we are able to make seasonal frequency changes to better match our schedule with summer demand, so some of these flight increases or deceases will be re-adjusted ... in the autumn," planner Bill Owen told Southwest employees in an internal memo.

"Besides all other changes coming this summer, we've got a number of other schedule improvements that will roll out in May '08 - most of them designed to deliver better on-time performance and to enhance overall efficiency and profitability."
Southwest Airlines chief executive Gary Kelly said in a statement he is concerned about slowing economic growth and wants schedules built around flights that are in high demand.

Southwest changed the number of flights in 81 round-trip markets nationwide, increasing nonstop service in 30 markets and reducing service in 51 others. The airline did not eliminate service in any market, calling its moves a "surgical" strategy.

Denver, where Southwest revised its strategy to take advantage of United Airlines recently reducing its capacity, was the biggest benefactor in the changes announced Wednesday with six new routes and 18 additional flights.

Reporter Ted Jackovics can be reached at (813) 259-7817 or tjackovics

@tampatrib.com.

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