Southwest Airlines cuts 15 destinations from Atlanta, adds 6 new Nashville routes

25.09.2024 - 21:15 / thepointsguy.com

Southwest Airlines is making major changes to its network.

The Dallas-based carrier announced Wednesday that it is extending its schedule through June 4, 2025. As part of the extension, the carrier is cutting a slew of routes from one of its operating bases. It's also adding six new flights from Nashville International Airport (BNA).

Starting with the cuts, Southwest will exit a whopping 15 markets from its base at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL). A carrier spokesperson confirmed that the airline will permanently exit the following markets effective April 2025:

The airline also filed plans to temporarily suspend Atlanta-to-Cancun, Mexico, service, but that route will return in the near future, Southwest told TPG.

Southwest says that these routes are being cut due to reduced booking patterns on many of these routes.

"We continue to optimize our network to meet Customer demand, best utilize our fleet, and maximize revenue opportunities. Decisions like these are difficult for our Company because of the effects on our People, but we have a history of more than 53 years of ensuring they are taken care of," the airline said in a statement.

In tandem with the cuts, the airline will reduce its presence at ATL from 18 to 11 gates next year. As such, the airline won't need as many employees at its Atlanta station, but all employees will be offered to transfer stations, the carrier confirmed to TPG.

Going forward, Southwest will be focused on capturing origin and destination demand from Atlanta to other popular Southwest airports, such as ones in Baltimore, Dallas, Denver and Houston.

All these changes come as the airline struggles to return to profitability amid repeated pressure from activist investor Elliott Investment Management.

Southwest is expected to announce a detailed plan to cut costs during its investor day on Thursday.

It's not all cuts for Southwest, though. The airline is boosting its presence in Nashville with the addition of six new routes.

Beginning April 8, 2025, Southwest will start flying from BNA to:

Interestingly, this expansion marks the first time that Southwest will fly intra-Tennessee service. It's also the first time that Memphis has been served from Nashville on a major carrier since Delta Air Lines pulled out of the market in 2014, according to Cirium data. (That cut happened in tandem with Delta dehubbing Memphis, a base that was originally inherited as part of the Northwest Airlines merger in 2008.)

It'll be interesting to see how this 200-mile service works out for Southwest. After all, it's just a 3 1/2-hour drive between the two cities.

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Four of the six new routes are entirely new for Southwest. The