Southwest Airlines announced on Friday that it will erase six destinations from AirTran’s route map this August, while the carrier’s remaining 22 cities transition to Southwest-brand service.
The control tower in this photo is already gone, and soon so will the airline. (Photo by Phil Derner, Jr.)
Discontinued cities:
• Allentown, Pa. (ABE): 1 roundtrip daily
• Lexington, Ky. (LEX): 2 roundtrips daily
• Harrisburg, Pa. (MDT): 1 roundtrip daily
• Sarasota, Fla. (SRQ): 6 roundtrips daily
• Huntsville, Ala. (HSV): 2 roundtrips daily
• White Plains, N.Y. (HPN): 3 roundtrips daily
The final day of service at these airports is set for August 11th.
In a statement, Southwest Executive Vice President Bob Jordan blamed fuel prices for the cuts. “We are excited about the cities we have chosen to keep in our combined network,” said Jordan. “At the same time, there are some markets that we simply cannot make work in the current fuel environment, so we’ve had to make the decision to discontinue service in those locations.”
Seattle will become the first station fully converted from AirTran to Southwest branding, operating a total of 41 daily flights, including AirTran’s current routes to Milwaukee, Atlanta and Baltimore. Southwest has not yet announced dates for future conversions.
