Southwest's slow surge south
By Jerome Greer Chandler Tue Aug 1, 2017
For years, Southwest Airlines confined its route structure to the U.S. mainland proper. Then it bought AirTran, and almost in an instant, it was a player in Mexico and the Caribbean.
Now comes news the low-fare juggernaut is continuing its slow surge south, making Indianapolis its 17th international gateway. To be sure, Indy isn’t any mega-hub, but come March 10, 2018, it will see Saturday-only nonstop service to the Mexican resort of Cancun.
From March 8, 2018, Southwest adds a new route from its busy Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood, gateway to the Caribbean island of Aruba.
Polishing its U.S. Midwest product, there will also be a new domestic leg between Milwaukee and Houston Hobby, a prime Latin and Caribbean connection point for Southwest to places such as Cancun, Belize and Mexico City.
This new service illustrates the metered sort of expansion that’s a hallmark of the airline. JetBlue and Spirit offer a slew of service south, but Southwest’s measured approach indicates it’s in no particular hurry to be king of Caribbean.
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