Southwest loaded the first portion of its summer schedule today, and it includes a seventh flight from Charlotte. The additional service is a second flight to Houston Hobby (HOU); Southwest also offers two flights a day each to Baltimore (BWI) and Chicago Midway (MDW) plus a flight a day to Orlando (MCO). It’s uncertain at this point whether the second HOU flight is seasonal or year-round. In any case, while it may not seem like much, it’s a welcome step in the right direction.
Southwest in South Carolina update: Kinda of a good news/bad news thing, depending on where in the state you are. Southwest Airlines started service to the state in March 2011, with seven flights a day each from Charleston (CHS) and Greenville/Spartanburg (GSP). The good news is that based upon next summer’s schedule, Charleston is up a flight from when service began. Next summer’s schedule comes to eight flights a day: 4 x BWI, 2 x MDW, 1 x HOU, 1 x Nashville (BNA). (Yes, Charleston > Charlotte to Southwest.)
And the bad news: I mentioned last week that Southwest was dropping three smaller cities come next June. If I were flying out of Greenville/Spartanburg I’d be very concerned that GSP might be next. As of next summer, Southwest is down to only four flights a day from Greenville/Spartanburg — 2 x MDW, 1 x BWI, 1 x HOU — about the same level as Branson, MO, Jackson, MS, and Key West, FL when they got dropped.
