As indicated last fall, Southwest Airlines will begin daily service between New York City’s LaGuardia Airport and Chicago’s Midway and Baltimore- Washington airports June 28.
The Dallas-based airline announced Tuesday there would be five daily nonstop flights between LaGuardia and Midway and three nonstops between LaGuardia and Baltimore. At Midway and Baltimore, Southwest will connect to 45 cities, including Denver.
Promotional fares will be $49 for a one-way ticket from LaGuardia to Baltimore and $89 one way from LaGuardia to Midway. With one stop at Midway or Baltimore, a one-way ticket from LaGuardia to Denver International Airport will be as low as $99.
Fares out of New York City may be permanently lowered because of what analysts call the “Southwest effect.”
“The term was coined by the U.S. Department of Transportation years ago about the notion that when we enter a market, competitors match our low fares and service,” said Southwest spokesman Chris Mainz.
The LaGuardia service “gives a more convenient, low-cost option into New York for the cities we serve,” Mainz said.
Southwest’s LaGuardia flights are good for the airline, said Bob Mc Adoo, a senior airline analyst with Avondale Partners.
McAdoo said that in March a bankruptcy court approved Southwest’s request to be awarded ATA Airlines’ slots at LaGuardia for $7.5 million.
“A large part of what Southwest is doing is reinstating the traffic that ATA used to carry at this time last year,” he said.
Ann Schrader: 303-954-1967 or aschrader@denverpost.com
