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Southwest shrinking for first time, but not at PHL

Southwest managed to make money last year when others were losing but still needs to cut its capacity and actually shrink a little in 2009, as the airline told analysts and reporters yesterday. One good story about the airline's earnings and immediate plans appeared in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

What's not in other stories is what Southwest is doing at PHL, where it is the second-largest carrier in passengers carried, with about 11 percent of the traffic. Southwest station manager John Minor, who has run the local operation since it started in mid-2004, tells me the airline will have about 67 flights a day this spring, roughly the same as last year. Southwest has said for several years that it intends to keep growing at PHL and still has plans to work with the airport to add more gates in Terminal E. But don't expect many new flights or destinations until Southwest and the whole industry can see the light at the end of this recession-induced tunnel.