Plans "Modest" Start-Up As Competitor Completes Delta Merger

Perhaps smelling blood in the water, on Wednesday Southwest Airlines announced its intent to begin service from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) in March 2009. The carrier has not released specific service details... saying only that it will begin a "modest" operation at MSP with flights to Chicago Midway only.

"Minneapolis-St. Paul's geographic location complements the vast Southwest Airlines network really well," said Gary Kelly, Southwest's Chairman of the Board, President, and CEO. "We have studied and been interested in serving this very popular market for quite some time, and we look forward to bringing our low fares and legendary Customer Service to the people of Minnesota."

Of course, that's the PR-spin. The cool and calculating business case is far more interesting.

Following a tactic similar to the low-cost carrier's return to Denver two years ago -- encroaching on the domain of United Airlines and, to a lesser extent, Frontier -- Southwest no doubt sees an opportunity to take passengers away from Northwest at MSP, at a time when that airline's future is somewhat nebulous.

Delta Air Lines is expected to complete its buyout of Northwest by the end of the year. While both sides have couched the deal as a merger of equals, it would be more accurate to term the deal as an acquisition, with Delta firmly in the left seat... and that makes the long-term future of Northwest's hub at MSP somewhat uncertain.

No doubt, Southwest sees a prime opportunity to bleed business away from Northwest, which is now the largest presence at MSP. The airport is also served by Midwest Airlines... which recently announced significant service cutbacks, and the outsourcing of most of its routes. 

Jeff Hamiel, Executive Director of Metropolitan Airport Commission, said Southwest's arrival at MSP has been a long time in coming. "One of the most frequent questions I have been asked over the years is, 'When is Southwest Airlines coming to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport?' Today, I can finally give people the answer we have been working toward: 'Very, very soon,'" Hamiel said.

"The Metropolitan Airports Commission stands ready to assist the airline in establishing and growing service to Minnesota," he added.

Kelly also said that despite the opening of new cities like MSP, Southwest will grow its fleet in 2009 "by no more than 10 Boeing 737-700s... While it is very likely we will not grow our available seat miles in 2009, our new schedule optimization tools allow us to better manage our fleet and adjust our flight schedule to take advantage of great opportunities such as Minneapolis-St. Paul."

Southwest says it will release more details of its service to MSP closer to the March start-up date.

FMI: www.southwest.com