The low-cost carrier has served Midway Airport since 1985, but never North Side Airport.
“I booked the tickets and had to make a double choice all the way to O’Hare,” said Colin Uthe, a Southwest Airlines passenger.
Now travelers can choose from 16 daily flights to Baltimore, Dallas, Denver, Nashville and Phoenix. Orlando will be added as a weekend destination starting in March.
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“It’s been a long time, but we’re thrilled to be arriving north of Chicago,” said Dave Harvey, vice president of Southwest Airlines.
Harvey hopes the expansion will help the Southwest Airlines business that was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.
COVID-19 forced Southwest Airlines to cancel nearly 40% of its daily flights last spring.
“No one knew to what extent and how long the impact of COVID would have on the industry,” Harvey said.
Harvey said the global pandemic is also the reason why O’Hare’s release on Sunday is even possible.
With the plummeting air travel, Southwest Airlines said it secured access to the new gate available at International Terminal 5.
“There are a lot of big companies and government companies in North Chicago, and some of these travelers aren’t willing to drive down to Midway, so we want to be just around the corner and we want to serve their favorite airport.” dir Harvey.
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Southwest Airlines saw its industry begin to recover, which is driven by growing demand as most of the country reopens.
“There have been a lot of shelters in place. It’s encouraging. Some of these states, literally, just the last week or two, are starting to open things up,” Harvey said.
Aside from COVID-19, customers may also be concerned that Southwest Airlines will return the Boeing 737 MAX airliner on March 11th. The 737 MAX fleet settled around the world almost two years ago after two separate crashes killed 346 people on board. Southwest said it is implementing flexible policies to make passengers as comfortable as possible when making tickets on these planes.
“It’s great to see a company simply adaptable and roll with the punches and take advantage of the best situations,” Uthe said.
The expansion of O’Hare Airport remains only a fraction of the approximately 250 Southwest Airline flights departing from Midway Airport each day. Southwest Airlines employs more than 5,000 workers in Chicago. Eighty employees will work on the new operation. Half of these employees moved from Midway while others moved from other centers in the Southwest. The airline said Chicago’s South Side airport will always be an “anchor” for the company.
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