One hundred Southwest Airlines execs and employees will touch down at Denver International Airport on Monday. The next day they will greet the carrier’s first planeload of paying passengers with the biggest celebration to hit DIA in two years.
Airport administrators will deliver speeches, employees will lead games and hand out prizes, and bigwigs will toast the occasion with oversized champagne glasses.
Why the red-carpet treatment? Because many local officials see the low-cost airline giant’s arrival as a sign of future growth, robust airport revenue and expanded consumer options.
It remains to be seen whether Southwest will alter the face of airline travel in Denver. It is starting small, making daily flights just to Phoenix, Las Vegas and Chicago’s Midway airport, and later, weekly flights to Oakland and San Diego.
Those 13 daily flights likely reflect less than 3 percent of DIA’s total volume, but they may also signal the start of something big. Southwest says it hopes to grow in Denver; how much will depend in part on the strength of its competition.
Frontier and United have already begun the battle to defend their Denver hubs. Armed with fare sales and loyal customers, they’ll try to meet the competition head on.
