DALLAS, Dec. 15
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Southwest Airlines
(NYSE: LUV)
announced today it will expand its current ATA
Airlines codeshare agreement to
include ATA flights from DFW Airport to Chicago
Midway Airport.
Southwest Customers will be able to book
transportation on ATA's three
daily nonstop flights from DFW to many
destinations in the Southwest system
via Chicago Midway Airport with a single
ticketing option and through either
airline.
"We are excited to expand ours and ATA's
North Texas presence and offer
travelers Southwest's legendary low fares,"
said Gary Kelly, Southwest
Airlines CEO. "Southwest itself will
continue to exclusively serve our Dallas
Love Field home, but the expansion of our
codeshare agreement with ATA
Airlines to DFW gives our Customers access to
many Southwest destinations
available from Chicago Midway Airport."
Southwest plans to make this service available
for sale on Jan. 3, 2006,
and the new codeshare flights will begin Jan. 11,
2006. Flights can be booked
via southwest.com or through Southwest Airlines
reservations at
1-800-I-FLY-SWA. When the service begins, a range
of fares will be available,
from very low advance purchase fares to
unrestricted walkup fares.
From Chicago Midway, travelers will have the
option of connecting to many
of Southwest's 42 nonstop destinations such as:
Albany, Baltimore/Washington,
Buffalo, Cleveland, Columbus, Detroit,
Hartford/Springfield, Indianapolis,
Long Island/Islip, Louisville, Manchester,
Norfolk, Omaha, Philadelphia,
Pittsburgh, Providence, and Raleigh/Durham.
Chicago Midway, with 196 daily
nonstop departures, is tied as Southwest's second
busiest airport in terms of
daily departures.
"Southwest still has no interest in
splitting our operation between Dallas
Love Field and DFW Airport," Kelly said.
"We will continue our efforts to
repeal the anti-consumer, anti-competitive Wright
Amendment, which restricts
our Love Field service. Given the success
Southwest has had with the ATA
codeshare agreement in other cities, along with
the route restructuring
underway at ATA, and the progress we've made in
repealing the Wright
Amendment, it now makes sense to add DFW Airport
to our list of codeshare
cities. With the high fares prevailing at DFW
Airport, I know our travelers
will be delighted with this new, low-fare
service."
The codeshare means that Southwest and ATA
Airlines will exchange
passengers and their checked baggage at Chicago
Midway Airport.
Southwest Airlines started the codeshare service
with ATA Airlines in
February 2005 by first offering connecting
service in Chicago. That
relationship was further expanded to include
codeshare service through Phoenix
and Las Vegas. Via the codeshare agreement,
destinations such as Honolulu,
Maui, New York's LaGuardia Airport, and
Washington, D.C.'s Reagan National
Airport are available to Southwest Customers.
This week, Southwest began new nonstop service
out of Dallas Love
Field -- the first new nonstops from Dallas in 25
years -- to Kansas City and
to St. Louis, with fares starting as low as $79
one-way (*see fare rules). For
more information on how travelers can help in the
fight to repeal the Wright
Amendment, visit http://www.setlovefree.com .
Southwest Airlines, the nation's largest carrier
in terms of domestic
passengers enplaned, currently serves 61 cities
in 31 states. Based in Dallas,
Southwest currently operates nearly 3,000 flights
a day and has 31,000+
Employees systemwide.
*Fare rules: Fares are available one-way with
14-day advance purchase.
Seats are limited. Fares may vary by destination
and day of travel. Fares do
not include a federal segment tax of up to $3.30
per takeoff and landing.
Fares do not include airport-assessed passenger
facility charges (PFCs) of up
to $9 one-way and U.S. government-imposed
September 11th Security Fees of up
to $5 one-way. Fares are subject to change until
ticketed. Tickets are
nonrefundable but may be applied toward the
purchase of future travel on
Southwest Airlines. Fares are valid on
Southwest-operated published, scheduled
service only and are not available through the
Group Desk. Any change in
itinerary may result in an increase in fare.
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