Southwest Airlines will drop service from Chicago O’Hare (ORD) and Washington Dulles (IAD) airports in June, slashing 17 routes and focusing its schedule on nearby airports where the carrier has a much larger presence.
The airline has relatively small operations at both airports, which are hubs for United Airlines. American Airlines also uses ORD as a hub.
Southwest has a 1.7% market share at ORD in terms of two-way weekly seats and an even smaller share at IAD, according to OAG Schedules Analyzer data. The airline operates to 15 destinations from ORD. It only serves Denver and Phoenix from IAD. Service will end at both airports on June 4.
Southwest will maintain a strong foothold in both markets. Chicago Midway (MDW) has long been a mainstay in the airline’s network. The carrier has a 92.1% share at MDW, currently offering 476,008 two-way weekly seats, according to OAG data.
In the Washington DC area, Southwest is the leading carrier at Baltimore/Washington Marshall (BWI) with a 76.7% share, offering 467,626 two-way weekly seats. At Reagan Washington National (DCA), Southwest is the second place airline after American with a 15.2% market share, offering 96,754 two-way weekly seats.
Dropping ORD and IAD from the airline’s network does “not represent any significant changes in flight availability for these cities, as we will continue our robust service at MDW, BWI and DCA,” a Southwest spokesperson told Aviation Week.
The spokesperson added that “operating at Chicago O’Hare continues to be challenging ... We are confident we can serve Chicagoland from our long-standing base at Midway, where we will continue to offer service to more than 80 destinations, including the 15 markets we serve from O’Hare.”
Southwest noted it will continue to offer “up to a combined 271 departures to 79 nonstop destinations from DCA and BWI.”
Southwest will pull out of ORD as the airport faces a potential cap on summer services. The FAA is exploring a cap of between 2,500 and 2,800 daily flights at ORD over the summer months. Airlines have collectively scheduled more than 3,080 daily flights for the summer, up around 15% year-over-year.
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