Southwest Airlines and AirTran Airways have announced the addition of five additional non-stop routes to their network for the first quarter of 2012 as they continue to work towards coordinating their schedules to maximise the synergies of their merger. The new links include daily flights from January 7, 2012 between Denver and Providence and Ft Lauderdale Hollywood and Milwaukee and from February 12, 2012 between Long Island/Islip and Fort Myers. Seasonal services will also be resumed on the Nashville - Fort Myers and Ft Lauderdale Hollywood – Manchester routes from January 7.

“The schedule coordination is a first effort by both airlines to maximise operations and prepare for full integration,” say the two airlines, highlighting that customers will also see some shifts in capacity due to the “typical slowing of demand” in the winter months and “continued pruning of unproductive flying” due to high fuel costs.

“As we move toward full integration, we continue looking for ways to optimise operations and schedules at both Southwest and AirTran,” said Bob Jordan, Executive Vice President of Strategy and Planning, Southwest Airlines and President, AirTran Airways. “The airline industry is facing many challenges including significantly higher fuel costs. We must do everything we can to operate efficiently, continue to offer schedules that best match capacity to demand, and deliver the legendary Customer Service both airlines are known for."

As Bob Jordan notes, the airlines are looking closely at its schedules and this will mean some route cancellations during the final quarter. Flights on the following routes are all due to stop from January 7:
Birmingham – Louisville;
Boise – Reno/Tahoe;
Boise – Salt Lake City;
Boise – Seattle/Tacoma;
Jacksonville FL – Philadelphia;
Kansas City – Seattle/Tacoma;
Manchester NH – Las Vegas;
Manchester NH – Philadelphia;
Philadelphia – Pittsburgh;
Philadelphia – Providence;
Phoenix – Providence;
Spokane – Seattle/Tacoma.

Meanwhile, services on the Albuquerque – Portland, Hartford – Las Vegas and Kansas City – Oakland routes will stop on January 7 but are due to recommence from February 12. This is possible as Southwest covers this period with two separate schedule sections – January 8 – February 11 and February 12 – March 9.

The airline says a number of factors have influenced the closure of these routes, most notably the volatility of the price of oil. “For that reason our Planners have shown a high degree of caution in the initial publication of this schedule because of the uncertainty of the price of fuel in 1Q12. If it looks like we need to add more flights, we can,” says the airline.

Alongside the route additions and cancellations, this schedule period also marks the transition of some AirTran capacity over to the Southwest brand, such as Baltimore/Washington to Boston, Orlando and New Orleans; Columbus and St. Louis to Orlando, and Pittsburgh-Tampa Bay/St Petersburg. As one Southwest Airlines executive notes this marks the start of a long process with the ultimate goal of “bringing two airlines together to spread low fares further”.