Rampant Speculation: Is Southwest About to Go International?

March 19, 2008 at 11:07 AM | by pbb | Comments (0)

Now that one low cost carrier has revealed its latest plans, it's time for Southwest to share some news. (God knows the carrier could use some good press.) While it's far from certain, at least one industry watcher thinks the airline could announce something big:

The new CEO of Global [which owns ATA] should be a familiar name. He's the ex-CFO of Southwest Airlines and ex-CEO of ATA: John Denison. And, as we all know, John is very close to current Southwest CEO Gary Kelly.

People tell us this afternoon that we could hear about what Southwest is going to do with ATA's international certificate in as little as 48 hours.

Hmmm... That was about 40 hours ago.

It's no secret that Southwest code shares with ATA. And CEO Gary Kelly has even said that he wants to add Caribbean service by 2009. When he made that declaration last year, he also mentioned flights to Europe.

But with airlines trimming long-haul routes in light of fuel prices, will Southwest follow through on transcontinental flights? Is summer the best time to start service to the Caribbean? And what about Mexico, where ATA already flies? Will Southwest temper its new business-friendly service with flights to tequila-soaked spring break resorts?

What we know for sure is that long-haul over-water flights on narrow-body aircraft will be a lot more bearable with in-flight WiFi. Maybe that's why Southwest tapped satellite Web provider Row 44 instead of ground-based Aircell?

Related Stories:
· Southwest Airlines Starts To Make Move on ATA [PlaneBuzz]
· Southwest CEO Predicts "An Interesting 2008" [Jaunted]
· Southwest Airlines coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: StuSeeger]

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