Southwest to expand to Colorado Springs after decades of courting

[Miss Hepburn]

it's here today!!!!

[Brill]

they flew their CO plane from Den to COS to day, couldn't see it because of the clouds

[Brill]

The southwest experiment in colorado springs is over for me. I thought it would be great to be able to fly out of COS again. Everytime I've flown with southwest they send me to denver for a connection. Their Den to COS flights never seem to be on time. Yesterday I sat in Denver airport for 7 hours waiting, waiting for a plane to fly me to COS, a 21 minute flight. The flight delays from the extra connection are worse than traffic on i-25. Looks like I'll be flying out of Denver again.

[Willy702]

Originally Posted by Brill

The southwest experiment in colorado springs is over for me. I thought it would be great to be able to fly out of COS again. Everytime I've flown with southwest they send me to denver for a connection. Their Den to COS flights never seem to be on time. Yesterday I sat in Denver airport for 7 hours waiting, waiting for a plane to fly me to COS, a 21 minute flight. The flight delays from the extra connection are worse than traffic on i-25. Looks like I'll be flying out of Denver again.

This has to be the dumbest idea. I thought it was temporary flying into DEN to figure out where the public wanted to fly to and you'd see a shift to direct flights in a year or two. Every time I walk by the gate offering this flight and see all these people waiting for it I just wonder why they did this?

[wong21fr]

Originally Posted by Willy702

This has to be the dumbest idea. I thought it was temporary flying into DEN to figure out where the public wanted to fly to and you'd see a shift to direct flights in a year or two. Every time I walk by the gate offering this flight and see all these people waiting for it I just wonder why they did this?

Because why the hell would Southwest wast resources on direct flights, that wouldn't be full, when it's largest hub is a twenty minute flight away and it can then maximize the number of butts in seats? Nearly all the flights out of COS feed into a hub for the necessary transfer elsewhere simply because COS can't support direct flights based on demand. The only one that doesn't fall into this category would be the one to Long Beach.


It's always going to be hard for COS to compete with DEN given that DEN has nearly unlimited capacity to expand and keeps landing fees relatively low.

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by wong21fr

Because why the hell would Southwest wast resources on direct flights, that wouldn't be full, when it's largest hub is a twenty minute flight away and it can then maximize the number of butts in seats? Nearly all the flights out of COS feed into a hub for the necessary transfer elsewhere simply because COS can't support direct flights based on demand. The only one that doesn't fall into this category would be the one to Long Beach.

It's always going to be hard for COS to compete with DEN given that DEN has nearly unlimited capacity to expand and keeps landing fees relatively low.

Since deregulation we're treated like boxes on FEDEX who operate a hub and spoke system of package transport.

Airlines fly passengers into hubs so they can fill up the flights out of the hub. FEDEX does it all night long in Memphis with boxes. Direct point to point flights are desirable when you can find them, usually at a premium to connecting flights via the hub/spoke systems. Hub/spoke is efficient for the airlines to make best use of their money and maximize profits.

If it weren't for all the military business in Colorado Springs the airport would be far less than it is, and no matter what, it will mostly operate as a feeder into the huge airport in Denver.

Some people are gaming the system these days by using a trick called skiplagging. If they cannot find a direct flight at a decent price or time, they will book a connecting flight to a 3rd city but depart the plane at the connecting city (their true intended destination) and skip taking the second leg of their ticketed flight. For example, if one wants to go from Denver to Chicago, but direct flights are booked or expensive, they may choose to book a flight to DC that connects in Chicago, and then get off the plane in Chicago and skip the 2nd leg. Only works if one does NOT check any luggage as checked luggage will go to DC. Airlines are trying to stop this gimmick as they hate flying empty seats on the second leg of the trip.

[Wittgenstein's Ghost]

Originally Posted by wong21fr

Because why the hell would Southwest wast resources on direct flights, that wouldn't be full, when it's largest hub is a twenty minute flight away and it can then maximize the number of butts in seats? Nearly all the flights out of COS feed into a hub for the necessary transfer elsewhere simply because COS can't support direct flights based on demand. The only one that doesn't fall into this category would be the one to Long Beach.


It's always going to be hard for COS to compete with DEN given that DEN has nearly unlimited capacity to expand and keeps landing fees relatively low.

I'm not sure I agree regarding COS not being able to support direct flights anywhere. I fly direct to Dallas on American all the time, and the flight is pretty much always full. I'm not saying we can support nearly as many direct flights as Denver, and the idea that we can even talk about COS competing with Denver is silly, but there are several destinations that I believe a strong business case can be made for direct flights out of COS. Dallas and Phoenix come to mind immediately, and you can probably add Chicago and maybe Vegas since those are also major Southwest hubs. It also wouldn't surprise me if a seasonal Orlando flight would do well.

[StealthRabbit]

It's likely SWA had to pay for x gates and promise x flights / day to get a spot at COS. Hoping to eventually build the daily traffic to their direct destinations from COS to support the costs. (that would not include connections to DEN).

The expense to keep a presence alive at an airport must be huge. (staff, equip, and fees)

I hope SWA can survive long enough to make it profitable to be in COS.

[wong21fr]

Originally Posted by Wittgenstein's Ghost

I'm not sure I agree regarding COS not being able to support direct flights anywhere. I fly direct to Dallas on American all the time, and the flight is pretty much always full. I'm not saying we can support nearly as many direct flights as Denver, and the idea that we can even talk about COS competing with Denver is silly, but there are several destinations that I believe a strong business case can be made for direct flights out of COS. Dallas and Phoenix come to mind immediately, and you can probably add Chicago and maybe Vegas since those are also major Southwest hubs. It also wouldn't surprise me if a seasonal Orlando flight would do well.

Dallas is an American Airlines hub, I should have been clearer that COS can support flights to airline hubs from which passengers can transfer. Same why Delta flies from COS to Atlanta and Southwest flies to Phoenix and Love Field.

But COS having a direct flight to Pittsburgh or Boise probably isn't going to happen.

[Wittgenstein's Ghost]

Originally Posted by wong21fr

But COS having a direct flight to Pittsburgh or Boise probably isn't going to happen.

Agreed