Jaunted

Southwest Airlines

Southwest Taking On Virgin America at SFO

September 4, 2007 at 9:30 AM | 0 Comments

If Virgin America were the only new airline landing at SFO, we wouldn't think twice about it: Routes and airlines come and go. But the SFO-LAX route is heating up now that Southwest Airlines is jumping into the mix, beginning November 4.

The carrier best known for its sarcasm, free-for-all seat system and its own reality show will be flying eight times a day between SFO and LAX. Just what does that mean? According to Bill Owen, Southwest's schedule planner, big things:

While I won't make predictions here...if I were a bettin' man, now that Southwest is flying between LAX and SFO, I'd bet that the fares in that market will drop like Brittany [sic] Spears' approval rating. We will bring our pricing to the market, which will give far more people the Freedom to Fly....and we'll do just as we have everywhere else in this Country--grow the market!

Celeb reference or not, we're wondering when this fare drop is going to happen: Southwest's advance purchase tickets start at $39. Virgin America offers tickets for the same price--without the cattle call boarding.

Related Stories:
· A Tale of Two Markets [Southwest]
· Southwest Airlines coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Plane Buzz]