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T-Minus 154 Days to International, Oct. Additions, & Nov./Dec. 2015 Schedule

Bill
Employee
Employee
Houston, we’re fixin’ to have liftoff! On October 15, 2015, Southwest is going to put the International back into William P. Hobby International Airport! Plus, we’ve extended the schedule through the incredibly busy November/December time period, with lots of associated changes.  So much cool news ... read on! International Houston’s awesome new International Concourse will open on October 15, and to inaugurate it in true Southwest Style we’ll add SIX new international destinations from Houston/Hobby International (HOU).  Four cities in Mexico—Cancun, Mexico City, Puerto Vallarta, and Cabo San Lucas, as well as service to Belize City, Belize, and San Jose, Costa Rica.  We’ll have one daily nonstop roundtrip in each market except for Cancun, which will get double the LUV with two daily roundtrips.  Then, on November 1, we’ll broaden our Hobby horizons even more by adding new daily roundtrip service between Houston/Hobby International and both Montego Bay, Jamaica, and our newest international destination, Liberia, Costa Rica.  Well also add Saturday-only service between Baltimore/Washington and Liberia. Liberia is on Costa Rica’s phenomenally beautiful Pacific coast (and it’s pronounced Lee-BEAR-ee-ya, y’all), and will be an instant hit with our Customers AND Employees!  (Note:  Hobby International service to Montego Bay, Belize, San Jose, and Liberia are subject to governmental approval)
Houston/Hobby International New Markets (Roundtrip)
Effective October 15, 2015
Market Trips      Notes
HOU-Belize City, Belize 1x Daily      SFGA*
HOU-Cancun 2x Daily
HOU-Mexico City 1x Daily
HOU-Puerto Vallarta 1x Daily
HOU-Cabo San Lucas 1x Daily
HOU-San Jose, Costa Rica 1x Daily      SFGA*
Effective November 1, 2015
Market Trips      Notes
HOU-Liberia, Costa Rica 1x Daily      SFGA*
HOU-Montego Bay, Jamaica 1x Daily      SFGA*
*Subject to foreign governmental approval November/December 2015 Schedule Besides the exciting Houston/Hobby International additions, we have lots of other changes in this new November/December schedule.  Out of our nearly 1,300 nonstop markets (directionally), we’re changing frequency in nearly a quarter of them for this schedule, with 112 markets being trimmed and 182 getting flight additions.  (You can refer to this summary spreadsheet for greater detail) The November/December schedule extension makes Southwest flights available through January 4, 2016, and (of course) includes the Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Holiday schedules.  There are a lot of traffic peaks and valleys in that 80-day period, so much so that this isn’t really just one schedule—it’s actually a series of schedules that were individually optimized, babied, and worked based on expected traffic patterns, then “jammed” together.  You will, therefore, notice frequencies and scheduled departure times during November and December shifting around more than normal.  To steal the title of the Meryl Streep/Steve Martin movie—“It’s Complicated!”   But it’s all for reaching the goal of matching our airline’s capacity with anticipated Customer demand to generate even more record-setting results, so it’s definitely effort well spent! ADDITIONS: New daily nonstops are coming between Austin and both Boston/Logan and Seattle/Tacoma, as are daily nonstops between Cleveland and Denver, and between Indianapolis and New York/LaGuardia! We’re also connecting Orange County (SNA) with both Kansas City and St. Louis with our first-ever nonstops effective November 22.  All of those new additions are expected to be permanent.  Seasonal frequency upgrades to daily service are also coming to Aruba /Baltimore, Austin/Cancun, and Denver/Cabo San Lucas, as well as a large number of Florida markets, and many other seasonal reinstatements will happen for primarily warm-weather markets.   And in response to amazing Customer response, we’re also adding an extra Saturday flight between Orange County and beautiful Cabo San Lucas and Puerto Vallarta.  We’ve been connecting the OC to Mexican Beaches with Southwest Spirit for over a year now, and our Customers are LUVing it! Also in November, we’re shifting our Atlanta to San Francisco nonstops across the Bay to Oakland.  Flying between Atlanta and Oakland maintains our presence between HeartLanta and The Bay (and Southwest will offer the only nonstop service between Atlanta and Oakland!) plus it adds additional connectivity between Georgia and the Pacific Northwest.
New Nonstop Markets Effective November 1 (unless otherwise noted) (Roundtrip)
Market Trips        Notes
Akron/Canton-Ft. Myers 1x Daily Seasonal
Akron/Canton-Las Vegas 1x Daily Effective Nov. 15
Albany-Ft. Lauderdae 1x Daily Seasonal
Atlanta-Oakland 1x Daily
Aruba-Baltimore/Washington 1x Daily Sat. only to Daily
Austin-Boston/Logan 1x Daily
Austin-Cabo San lucas 1x Sat. Only Seasonal
Austin-Cancun 1x Daily Sat. only to Daily
Austin-Seattle/Tacoma 1x Daily
BWI-Liberia, Costa Rica 1x Sat. Only SFGA*
Cleveland-Denver 1x Daily
Columbus-Ft. Lauderdale 1x Daily Seasonal
Denver-Cabo San Lucas 1x Daily Sat. only to Daily
Denver-Puerto Vallarta 1x Daily SFGA*
Flint-Ft. Myers 1x Sat. Only Seasonal
Flint-Tampa Bay 1x Daily Seasonal
Ft. Lauderdale-Indianapolis 1x Daily Seasonal
Ft. Lauderdale-Milwaukee 1x Daily Seasonal
Ft. Lauderdale-Philadephia 2x Daily Seasonal
Ft. Lauderdale-Pittsburgh 1x Daily Seasonal
Ft. Lauderdale-Raleigh/Durham 1x Daily Seasonal
Ft. Lauerdale-Kansas City 1x Daily Seasonal
Grand Rapids-Ft. Myers 1x Sat. Only Seasonal
Grand Rapids-Orlando 1x Daily Seasonal
Hartford/Springfield-Ft. Myers 1x Daily Seasonal
HOU-Tucson 1x Sat.Only Seasonal
Indianapolis-LaGuardia 2x Daily
Kansas City-Orange County 1x Daily Effective Nov. 22
Milwaukee-Ft. Myers 2x Daily Seasonal
SNA-Cabo San Lucas 1x D/2x Sat. Addl Sat. frequency
SNA-Puerto Vallarta 1x D/2x Sat. Addl Sat. frequency
SNA-St. Louis 1x Daily Effective Nov. 22
Rochester-Tampa Bay 1x Daily Seasonal
West Palm Beach-Philadephia 1x Daily Seasonal
 *Subject to foreign govt approval DISCONTINUATIONS: Markets to be permanently discontinued on November 1 are New Orleans to Newark, and Chicago/Midway to Rochester, NY.  And also between Akron/Canton to Boston, Washington/Reagan National, Denver, and New York/LaGuardia.  We’ll seasonally discontinue Nashville-Seattle/Tacoma and Chicago/Midway to Reno/Tahoe, and ...
Discontinued Markets - Permanent unless noted (Roundtrip)
Market Trips Notes
Akron/Canton-Boston/Logan -1
Akron/Canton-New York/LaGuardia -2
Akron/Canton-Washington Reagan -1
Akron/Canton-Denver -1
Atlanta-San Francisco -1 Replaced by ATL-OAK
Chicago/Midway-Reno/Tahoe -1 Seasonal
Chicago/Midway-Rochester -2
Nashville-Seattle/Tacoma -1 Seasonal
Newark-New Orleans -1
Lots of new chapters being written in the Story of Southwest lately, and this is going to be an EPIC one!  Welcome, Houston/William P Hobby back to international gateway status, and bring on the Holiday bookings.  Let me know if you have questions—and have a fantastic weekend, all!
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