Southwest plans service at Dulles

0 Comments | Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Apr 5, 2006 | by David Koenig Associated Press

DALLAS -- Southwest Airlines Co. will begin service this fall at Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D.C., stepping into a void left by the collapse of Independence Air.

The move would mark Southwest's latest entry into the hub of a major rival -- UAL Corp.'s United Airlines -- and supplement its flights at Baltimore-Washington International Airport about 50 miles away.

Chief Executive Gary Kelly said his airline was drawn to Dulles by the region's growth and the airport's ability to reduce operating costs for carriers. The airport also has a heavy concentration of international flights.

Southwest, the nation's largest low-cost airline, said Tuesday that it will start with two gates and about 10 daily departures this fall. The airline said it would announce routes and fares from Dulles this summer.

Southwest operates 165 daily departures at Baltimore-Washington - - its fourth biggest base after Phoenix, Las Vegas and Chicago Midway -- but none at close-in Reagan National Airport, which is a more costly airport for airlines.

Southwest also was worried whether it could turn a profit at Dulles, but airport officials stepped up their pursuit of the Dallas- based carrier in January after bankrupt Independence Air stopped flying.

At one point, Independence accounted for more than one in five passengers at Dulles by offering cheap transcontinental flights.

"We certainly took note in the rise of traffic that occurred with Independence Air," Kelly said.

Other airlines flying from Dulles include JetBlue Airways Corp., US Airways Group Inc., AMR Corp.'s American Airlines, Northwest Airlines Corp., Delta Air Lines Inc. and AirTran Holdings Inc.'s AirTran Airways.

While Southwest did not disclose where it will fly from Dulles, aviation analyst Richard Aboulafia of the Teal Group in nearby Fairfax, Va., said the carrier would probably fly to Florida and avoid direct competition with JetBlue on cross-country routes.

Southwest began service at BWI in 1993, and it became the carrier's fastest-growing market, Kelly said.

Southwest's decision to serve a second airport in the Washington area could escalate the battle over its refusal to begin service at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. Instead, Southwest is lobbying Congress to repeal a 1979 law that limits long flights from nearby Dallas Love Field so it can fly anywhere from the smaller airport.

Kelly said the Washington market is different because Dulles and BWI are much farther apart. The airline also moved into Denver early this year, which is another United hub.

Southwest operates in 62 cities and has been the only consistently profitable large U.S. carrier during the past five years.