USA Today (May 24, 2012) Domestic giant Southwest sticks nose into international air
The airline is picking up AirTran's flights to Mexico and the Caribbean after buying its rival last year. It's getting a new reservations system to handle overseas bookings and is seeking to build an international terminal at Houston's Hobby Airport, where it says it could ultimately add 25 flights abroad a day.
The airline also is seeking approval from Houston's city council to build a five-gate international terminal at Hobby Airport, whose private flights are the only ones that go to foreign destinations. The city's mayor, Annise Parker, announced her support for the terminal on Wednesday. Federal aviation officials will also have to give their OK.
Southwest would like to open the terminal, which would cost $100 million to $125 million, by 2015. It envisions it as the launching point for flights into Central and South America in addition to Mexico and the Caribbean.
A report commissioned by the Houston Airport System determined that the new portal would bring in an extra 1.5 million passengers annually, lead to 10,000 jobs for the Houston area, and amount to an economic benefit of $1.6 billion a year.
"The report projects that opening Hobby to international service would create a more competitive landscape" and lower fares, Houston Airport System's aviation director Mario Diaz wrote in a memo to Mayor Parker that supports the new terminal .
Plans were for the council to take up the matter by the end of May, said mayoral spokeswoman Janice Evans.
United, the biggest of the network carriers and which counts Houston's larger Bush Intercontinental Airport as its biggest hub, is not on board with Southwest's plan to turn Hobby into its international launch pad.
United flies the majority of passengers headed to foreign destinations from Houston. And it says its own study found that the proposed terminal at Hobby would result in the area taking an economic hit.
"Dividing the air service between the two airports … will mean that Houston is competing with itself for international connecting traffic rather than competing with very successful cities that have one international airport, like Atlanta and Dallas," says United spokeswoman Mary Clark. "We believe it will result in a loss of jobs and also there will be an economic loss for the city of Houston."
Clark says there is room for Southwest at Bush Intercontinental.
Southwest's Jordan counters that United is concerned about itself rather than the community.
"United Airlines doesn't want the competition," he says. "We're asking to bring more flights, and lower fares for the people of Houston, and bring in the economic benefits that come from that."
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http://travel.usatoday.com/flights/s...air/55174412/1