Originally Posted by
REF 5
SWA will never have a European gateway or any real international presence out of Chicago. That geography is already taken and well established by others. MDW is a great connect point for the SWA network. It works well for what it was intended for. ORD just compliments what SWA has in MDW.
I hear ya. Never implied we'd start any international service of our own out of ORD, but there's no doubt that large international feed will fill planes. Furthermore - we have a hard enough time lifting out of MDW on longer flights with full loads in the MAX. A shift to ORD for some of the more popular routes would make sense and attract more of the NW suburb crowd.
Originally Posted by
Proximity
I’m actually a big proponent of ORD and was disappointed they pulled back there. MDW is inconvenient for much of the Chicago area, doesn’t have good approaches, and as you say it is totally maxed out. The gate situation isn’t great either with the shared gates.
I’m just being realistic that with limited ORD service we won’t capture much international traffic from Iceland Air with the current schedule. Good news is that we have our foot in the door there unlike JFK. Service could be increased. I’m also hoping with the complete ORD overhaul going on we can get more gates in a more convenient location.
However, BWI, BNA, and STL make more sense in the Southwest network to connect international.
Completely agree. I live very close to ORD and was looking forward to the chance to bid lines out of there. Wishful thinking but still jump at the LRF trips whenever they pop up!
When more international partnerships are announced - the traffic at ORD will undoubtedly increase. Throw in better gate locations and it only increases traffic and convenience. The only intl airlines at MDW are Volaris and Porter. Would be a joke to partner with either at this stage so let's rule them out. Throw in a large Asia and South America feed and load factors are going to jump significantly.
No doubt there will be future intl expansion at BWI and BNA, and I could see it at STL as well if you target it as future base. All have the infrastructure to handle the larger aircraft - unlike MDW. In any case - I was happy to see the TPA route return and increased routes out of ORD this spring and summer. Hoping the trend continues.