Less than a day after saying “no decision yet”, Southwest Airlines today put out a press release announcing the fate of the stations it acquired in its acquisition of AirTran Airways:
The 22 AirTran airports that will continue to operate and will eventually join the Southwest route map include: Flint, Mich. (FNT); Rochester, N.Y. (ROC); Pensacola, Fla. (PNS); Charlotte, N.C. (CLT); Dayton, Ohio (DAY); Richmond, Va. (RIC); Key West, Fla. (EYW); Washington, D.C. (DCA); Memphis, Tenn. (MEM); Akron-Canton, Ohio (CAK); Wichita, Kan. (ICT); Des Moines, Iowa (DSM); Branson, Mo. (BKG); Portland, Maine (PWM); Grand Rapids, Mich. (GRR); Punta Cana, Dominican Republic (PUJ); Cancun, Mexico (CUN); Montego Bay, Jamaica (MBJ); Aruba (AUA); San Juan, Puerto Rico (SJU); Bermuda (BDA); and Nassau, Bahamas (NAS). AirTran service and Employees at these airports are planned to convert to Southwest gradually over the course of AirTran’s integration into Southwest.
Getting cut, effective Aug. 12 are: Allentown, Pa. (ABE); Lexington, Ky. (LEX); Harrisburg, Pa. (MDT); Sarasota, Fla. (SRQ); Huntsville, Ala. (HSV); and White Plains, N.Y. (HPN).
So, we’re in. Yet to answered is the question of when and, more importantly, how much. Will have an analysis of that up soon.
Bonus observation: Extremely odd that they would put the press release announcing this out at 1:15pm on a Friday. Their earning conference was yesterday, so presumably they wanted to avoid answering questions about it then. But still, why not wait until Tuesday, as most of these places won’t get Southwest proper until next year at the earliest.
