The low-cost service has served Midway Airport since 1985, but never at North Side Airport.
“We booked the tickets and had to take a double ride to O’Hare,” said Colin Uthe, passenger of Southwest Airlines.
Travelers can now choose from 16 daily flights to Baltimore, Dallas, Denver, Nashville and Phoenix. Orlando will be added as a weekend destination from March.
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“It’s been a long time coming, but we’re excited to be coming to Northern Chicago,” said Southwest Airlines vice president Dave Harvey.
Harvey hopes the expansion will help the Southwest Airlines business that was hurt by the COVID-19 pandemic.
COVID-19 forced Southwest Airlines to cancel nearly 40% of its daily flights last year.
“No one knew how deep and how long the impact of COVID would be on the industry,” Harvey said.
Harvey said the global pandemic was also the reason for O’Hare’s launch on Sunday.
Southwest Airlines said it was securing the newly available gate access at International Terminal 5, with a drop in the air.
“There are a lot of good businesses in northern Chicago, and some travelers are not willing to drive down to Midway. That’s why we just want to be around the corner and we want to serve their airport.” Harvey said.
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Southwest Airlines has begun to recover its industry, driven by growing demand as more of the country reopens.
“There was a lot of shelter. It’s encouraging. Some of the states, literally in the last week or two, are starting to reopen things,” Harvey said.
Aside from COVID-19, customers may also be concerned about Southwest Airlines returning the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft on March 11th. The 737 MAX fleet was grounded worldwide almost two years ago after two separate accidents killed 346 people on board. Southwest said it is implementing flexible policies to make passengers as comfortable as possible when buying tickets on the planes.
“It’s really nice to see that a business is just adaptable and with the beating role and utilizing the best situations,” Uthe said.
The expansion of O’Hare Airport remains only a fraction of the Southwest Airlines’ approximately 250 flights a day from Midway Airport. Southwest Airlines employs more than 5,000 employees in Chicago. Eighty staff members will be working on the new operation. Half of the staff members moved from Midway, while others transferred from other South West hubs. The airline said the South Side airport in Chicago will always be an “anchor” for the company.
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