We are less than a week away from February 15, 2018, when Southwest (WN) will open their schedule for sale through October 1, 2018.
Will Southwest announce their Caribbean Expansion? Hawaiian Routes?
Last Extension: Southwest Schedule Extension | 11/02/17
Is this when Southwest operates their first flights to Hawaii?
They are still pending approval from the FAA. They said they hoped to launch service in 2018, but it could be longer.
I personally donât think they will be announcing much of Hawaii anytime soon as the pilot union really doesnât want it for some reason and the FAA application for ETOPS 180 can take upwards of two years. Although I can expect to see just more routes overall with the MAX being brought in and hopefully more routes to Mexico and other resort locations.
Sint Maarten would also be a pleasant surprise, although they are still rebuilding and Southwest will probably want to enter into a stable market.
Southwest wanted to enter SXM for early 2018 but with the hurricanes⌠Well things changed.
SXMs market is surprisingly doing very well (cruises and flights). The island is projected to be back to normal life (almost fully) by August 2018.
So it is very possible to see that route being announced in this extension (would love that as SXM is my second home)
Never been there but I am always bugging my mom because Maho beach is a plane spotters dream. Hopefully they do announce flights there because then the tickets wouldnât be crazy bad. Right now they are around 800 dollars per person and with a family that just isnât logical when round trip & direct to Cancun on Frontier is only about 300 per person.
Hope we see another route out of KDSM! Last time they introduced a seasonal route to Phoenix, but I have heard rumors they might move it to a non seasonal route.
Im sort of hoping to see some routes from KISP in this extension. :)
ISP-SJU (Match Frontier)?
ISP-RDU (They have a connecting no seat change rn)?
ISP-MDW (Bringing back an old route that worked well)?
ISP-STL?!? :P
âCarribean Expansionâ⌠hmm unless Southwest wants to service flights from Orlando, I donât see that comingđ
You always want to see routes out of ISP, you live there đ
So, SWA is having their Yearly Rally to kick off the year and kinda lay out what they are expecting this year to look like. starting FEB 7 and ending a couple weeks later, and itâs happening in a few cities across the country. MCO BNA DAL and LAS. I have heard that they may be announcing the Hawaii flights at one of these 4 cities. (Probably DAL) during the couple weeks of this years rally.
âSouthwest Airlines said that its focus is on the development and growth of its Houston, Fort Lauderdale and Baltimore hubs, following the merger with Air Tran. However, it said it was still very much interested in starting service to SXM, which is likely to happen in 2017 (BWI) and FLL in 2018, once its International Terminal is up and running.â
SXM Airport 2016
They also stated that Southwest is most likely looking to start service to the island by 2018 (Probably pushed back a bit)
Their aircraft can fly the range from most of their hubs (including Chicago Midway) and their low prices can fill up the demand, so I donât see the issue.
Here in NYC, they seem to be advertising Islip Airport a lot so maybe a few more routes from IslipâŚ
I think itâs more MacArthur Airport advertising MacArthur Airport with Southwest and Frontier but letâs hope ;)
I wouldnât mind a few Dallas Non Stop flights from Islip. Regarding Frontier, a $89 rt to Denver wouldnât make me anything less than happy. The thing about Ronkonkoma is that itâs a good 1 hour drive from Queens. Maybe a shuttle bus might help out.
I would like to see Southwest turn Islip into a hub. It is perfect for it, it is in range of Europe with the Max 8âs and Max 7âs, it is close enough to New York City to get that traffic (very fast on the LIRR), and from what I understand Islip has been planning airport expansions for the near future, so there is no risk of running out of space. On top of that, the landing fees there and operating costs are significantly lower than Landfill Newark and La Garbage, meaning it would be a win-win for them.
The only issue is how small it is and future expansion is unlikely as it is completely surrounded by neighborhoods.
Transatlantic flights are considerably lower frequency so if they choose to utilize it for that soley I think they could make it work.
I took a look at the airport from a satellite view and there is quite a bit of unused space within the airport boundary.