Hours after the first blue and red jets of Southwest Airlines lifted off from Denver International Airport today, the airline announced it will add seven daily flights and two destinations in March.
The low-fare carrier returned to Denver after a 20-year absence with 13 daily flights to Chicago, Las Vegas and Phoenix. Barely three flights into the schedule, Southwest CEO Gary Kelly said the airline will add service to Baltimore and Salt Lake City and additional flight to Las Vegas and Phoenix.
“We are here. We are here to stay,” Kelly said.
Southwest flew out of the now-closed Stapleton International Airport in Denver until 1986, when it left because of high costs.
Southwest held off for another decade after DIA opened in 1995, again citing costs.
But the new airport’s fees have since declined, luring the airline back.
“It’s a big deal,” said Joan Zack of Brush as she waited to board a Southwest flight to Phoenix. Zack said Southwest’s presence could help lower fares out of Denver, where Frontier Airlines, United Airlines and United subsidiary Ted handle about 75 percent of passenger traffic combined.
“Denver needs that,” Zack said of the competition Southwest will bring.
Southwest will compete head-to-head with Denver-based Frontier, a low-fare carrier that also serves Las Vegas, Chicago and Phoenix among its nearly 50 U.S. destinations.
Frontier spokesman Joe Hodas said he did not think Southwest’s intention was to put the Denver airline out of business.
“I think their intent is to grow their company as our intent is to grow our company,” he said.
Hodas said Frontier and Southwest are matching each other’s fares.
He said Frontier’s reservations have registered a double-digit increase since Southwest announced its Denver service, but he declined to be more specific.
United, whose parent UAL Corp. expects to emerge from bankruptcy this year, has a hub in Denver.
Shares of Southwest Airlines Inc. fell 26 cents to $16.17 in midday trading on the New York Stock Exchange, while Frontier Airlines Inc. lost 55 cents, or 6 percent, to $8.69 on the Nasdaq Stock Market.
