OKC still soaring, despite loss of non-stop service to DAL

Southwest Airlines recently announced that it will be suspending 17 routes in January. Among them are nonstop flights between OKC and Dallas Love Field.

Before we get too upset at this news, we should realize that Southwest made a business decision because the routes being cut had not performed as expected. The ongoing 737 MAX grounding also was a factor and the carrier hopes that the cut routes will free up aircraft for routes with higher demand, such as flights to Hawaii.

The simple fact of the matter is that the OKCDAL flights were underutilized by the flying public. Beyond the headline, there is some great news in this announcement.

Southwest is adding flights from Oklahoma City to Houston Hobby, Phoenix, and will begin non-stop service to Nashville, ensuring that Southwest continues to offer the right number of seats for the community based on demand from travelers. That’s something that not all of the cities that will be experiencing service reductions can say.

Non-stop markets are important to businesses and open the gates for new business opportunities. Our partners at Will Rogers World Airport continue to work hard to acquire non-stop service to “target” markets.  These are cities that are most in demand by our travelers, provide increased connectivity in the U.S. and abroad, and are sustainable with passenger traffic.

The best way for our city to secure more non-stop flights – and retain the ones we have - is to fly those routes whenever possible. And if your company or industry has a high demand for a certain market, be sure to let us know. 

Sincerely,

This article originally appeared in the October 2019 issue of The POINT!