urbanSTL

Can anyone share some insight from bizjournal article on latest Southwest route drops.   Title with word why it happened is probably click bait but who knows.   Maybe something of note.

The airport director sheds light on the complex factors behind Southwest's route changes and discusses how St. Louis fits into the airline's hub-and-spoke system.

https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/new ... ating.html

Isn't that what JShank just did:

Southwest has been very vocal on 4 connecting hubs and they are STL Nashville Midway Denver. Talking to them about where they can get adds that have a higher number of local market. Said some of WNs pullback in general, not STL specific, in Cali is due to AS/Hawaiian merger and them strengthening on the west coast.

Talking to RJ partners about filling back in some of the markets lost. Didn't exactly sound promising but they are talking. Had a fair amount of businesses who fly to OKC that were disappointed

^ Asking if the bizjournal article had anything of note on pullback.  

Appreciated Jshank notes but it noted that Southwest making a lot of noise about hubs including STL but also noted pullback out west not specific to STL.   So not really discussing specifics on Southwest pullbacks on nonstops out of STL.   Of course, STL will want to put a positive spin on things as well.

I was assuming/maybe wishful thinking that the bizjournal article might have a more specific reason noted rather than say my previous speculative postings or a generalize it is part of a west pullback thing which I'm not sure if that is really a good thing for STL.  Then my assumption is Southwest has cut back flights east to west and in doing so it rather send passengers to Chicago or Nashville instead of STL to go west.   Some more speculation on my part but not really a good thing for STL to hear either.

gone corporate wrote: ↑

Sep 04, 2025

The decision to cut the Long Beach flight, announced today, was apparently made back in March. 

STL Biz Journal: Southwest Airlines quietly cut another route from St. Louis

In a statement last month, Southwest said it is looking to expand its network, which it says serves 117 airports, and is "redesigning" service to make St. Louis an area focused on "north/south connectivity" and Chicago one focused on east- and west-bound flights. The direct-service flights to Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Wichita, Des Moines and Little Rock flights have been redistributed to "other Southwest points of strength," primarily Chicago Midway.
Hamm-Niebruegge said St. Louis got additional Southwest flights to Phoenix, Detroit and Pittsburgh. None of those are new markets for the airport.
She noted that Denver lost more Southwest flights than Lambert, though it counts many more overall. 

Yeah this was old news. Not sure why they are picking it up now, unless it is just to pile on a bit. I like how they said "quietly cut a route" like they were hiding it or something. When they end Long Beach they add a LAX frequency. 

jshank83 wrote: ↑

Sep 05, 2025

gone corporate wrote: ↑

Sep 04, 2025

The decision to cut the Long Beach flight, announced today, was apparently made back in March. 

STL Biz Journal: Southwest Airlines quietly cut another route from St. Louis

In a statement last month, Southwest said it is looking to expand its network, which it says serves 117 airports, and is "redesigning" service to make St. Louis an area focused on "north/south connectivity" and Chicago one focused on east- and west-bound flights. The direct-service flights to Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Wichita, Des Moines and Little Rock flights have been redistributed to "other Southwest points of strength," primarily Chicago Midway.
Hamm-Niebruegge said St. Louis got additional Southwest flights to Phoenix, Detroit and Pittsburgh. None of those are new markets for the airport.
She noted that Denver lost more Southwest flights than Lambert, though it counts many more overall. 

Yeah this was old news. Not sure why they are picking it up now, unless it is just to pile on a bit. I like how they said "quietly cut a route" like they were hiding it or something. When they end Long Beach they add a LAX frequency. 

That's what I was thinking. Swore I read this in like 3 places weeks ago.

Lots of good reporting about St. Louis international service recently.

Lufthansa To St. Louis Had One Of The Highest Loads

https://simpleflying.com/loads-from-71- ... -explored/

“However, due to St. Louis having the US's largest Bosnian population, Sarajevo was the top airport-level market. Hyderabad was second, followed by Zagreb, Munich, and Budapest.”

A Quick Look: St. Louis To Frankfurt On Lufthansa

https://www.flyoveraviationanalytics.co ... lufthansa/

Top connections at FRA from STL






The fact that LHR (biggest international dest), CDG, AMS, DUB aren’t making the list as top connections is a very big tell that STL has unmet demand. Travelers are not willing to backtrack from FRA. YUL/YYZ are carrying STLs western EU traffic. I optimistically predict another international announcement this year.

https://liveandletsfly.com/kirby-united ... hub-ohare/

Kirby Says United’s Aggressive Growth Could Push American To Dehub O’Hare

Interesting, not sure what AA's O/D looks like at O'Hare and whether that type of operation could work at Lambert but I hope someone from STL is talking to them.

pdm_ad wrote: ↑

Sep 09, 2025

https://liveandletsfly.com/kirby-united ... hub-ohare/

Kirby Says United’s Aggressive Growth Could Push American To Dehub O’Hare

Interesting, not sure what AA's O/D looks like at O'Hare and whether that type of operation could work at Lambert but I hope someone from STL is talking to them.

I think this is wishful thinking by Kirby. He likes to run his mouth in the media

I seriously considered Lufthansas to Saigon for Tet, but couldn't even search the thicket. This was some months back before it was announced they were closing down for February, so now it make sense. Glad to see they're doing well. Hoping someone that partners with American steps in for . . . reasons. But very glad LH is doing well.

Isn't AA actively paying a bunch of money to aid in ORD's $8.5b redesign/upgrade?

Wonder how much of it is AA/DFW expanding as well.   AA might very well rather send/have more flights through DFW at end day.   Kinda assume Delta has also done the same with ATL over MSP and Detroit.   But tough to see a Chicago dehubbing overall as it relates to its domestic market.    

dredger wrote: ↑

Sep 16, 2025

Wonder how much of it is AA/DFW expanding as well.   AA might very well rather send/have more flights through DFW at end day.   Kinda assume Delta has also done the same with ATL over MSP and Detroit.   But tough to see a Chicago dehubbing overall as it relates to its domestic market.    

I'd be pretty surprised to see AA dehub chicago. Location wise there isn't another hub that can take its place. DFW is pretty far south, so they wouldn't have any northern stations east of PHL. 

They are getting screwed over a bit on gate allocations. 

I can think of one location just 285 air miles to the south that used to be an AA hub... 

-RBB

Raleigh-Durham is getting an Aer Lingus flight in 2026 on its new A321xlrs. 5 days/week.
Unclear what the incentives are. This article mentions that the airport will "waive certain fees and help market the new flights," in addition to $300,000 that the business community has pledged and $1.5 million that it is seeking from the legislature. Unclear, but likely that is annual. Far cry from the $17+ million that Indianapolis is spending for 2 years of the same service. Cleveland committed $12 million. Nashville, $4.25 mil (https://www.alleghenyinstitute.org/is-t ... deal-near/).
For comparison to STL, RDU has nonstops to Iceland (Icelandair), London (AA), Paris (AF), and Frankfurt (LH). 15.5 million total passengers in 2024, vs 15.9 million for STL. Of course, the Research Triangle surely drives a lot of international traffic.

https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local ... 24260.html

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North Carolina state government also isn't nearly as mentally challenged as Missouri.

NHampton wrote: ↑

Sep 19, 2025

Raleigh-Durham is getting an Aer Lingus flight in 2026 on its new A321xlrs. 5 days/week.
Unclear what the incentives are. This article mentions that the airport will "waive certain fees and help market the new flights," in addition to $300,000 that the business community has pledged and $1.5 million that it is seeking from the legislature. Unclear, but likely that is annual. Far cry from the $17+ million that Indianapolis is spending for 2 years of the same service. Cleveland committed $12 million. Nashville, $4.25 mil (https://www.alleghenyinstitute.org/is-t ... deal-near/).
For comparison to STL, RDU has nonstops to Iceland (Icelandair), London (AA), Paris (AF), and Frankfurt (LH). 15.5 million total passengers in 2024, vs 15.9 million for STL. Of course, the Research Triangle surely drives a lot of international traffic.

https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local ... 24260.html

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The waived fees and marketing part is standard for every airport.

But the 1.8 mil is definitely cheaper than Indy. Even if it’s per year. A lot closer to what Nashville paid, which makes sense. Indy and Cleveland were a lot more desperate.

Did I miss that we added a nonstop to JFK?

jshank83 wrote: ↑

Sep 03, 2025

Airport commission updates

August checkpoints numbers - 80K more than 2019, 7k more than 2024
Rhonda said June-December for Lufthansa for 5x a week.
Delta to JFK starts Monday

Southwest has been very vocal on 4 connecting hubs and they are STL Nashville Midway Denver. Talking to them about where they can get adds that have a higher number of local market. Said some of WNs pullback in general, not STL specific, in Cali is due to AS/Hawaiian merger and them strengthening on the west coast.

Talking to RJ partners about filling back in some of the markets lost. Didn't exactly sound promising but they are talking. Had a fair amount of businesses who fly to OKC that were disappointed

^

bwcrow1s wrote: ↑

Sep 29, 2025

Did I miss that we added a nonstop to JFK?

It was announced a few months ago for a September start

Rumors bubbling British Airways to London.

I can confirm. Wednesday at 9:00 STL to London announcement.

WOOOOHOOOO!