Southwest coming to Cozumel!!!

[buffdiver]

I just hope they’re daily flights! Love Field doesn’t do international non stop. Hobby has the new international terminal. All roads go through Houston. Or Tampa, Fort Lauderdale.....maybe Baltimore. We shall see.

 

[ggunn]

This might be the biggest news to hit Cozumel in awhile.

"Southwest also announced plans to begin flights to Cozumel, Mexico. Pending regulatory approval, flights from Houston to Cozumel will begin in early 2020, the airline said."

Southwest Airlines exiting Newark, adding Hawaii, Cozumel flights

I'll believe it when I'm wheels up on my way to CZM.

 

[Protondecay123]

Looks like it will be the 737 Max 8 making the trip Out of Hobby? It will be nice to fly with them to Coz. My favorite airline!

 

[Christi]

Wonder why they'd offer then from Houston but not from DFW? Other than a slight additional need for fuel.

Because Houston Hobby is an actual SW HUB and Dallas is not.

DallasFW/Miami = American hub
Atlanta & MSP = Delta hub
Houston IAH = United hub

Any given airline offers direct flights from their hubs to popular destinations. So if you're flying from an airport with an airline that doesn't have a hub in your area, 99% of the time you will have to go through their hub to connect on a flight going to the destination you want. Look at an airlines route map and it makes perfect sense.

 

[Protondecay123]

Because Houston Hobby is an actual SW HUB and Dallas is not.

DallasFW/Miami = American hub
Atlanta & MSP = Delta hub
Houston IAH = United hub

Any given airline offers direct flights from their hubs to popular destinations. So if you're flying from an airport with an airline that doesn't have a hub in your area, 99% of the time you will have to go through their hub to connect on a flight going to the destination you want. Look at an airlines route map and it makes perfect sense.

Southwest was founded at Love Field in Dallas. No flights out of DFW. Hence the Heart logo. They have “ re-vitalized “ numerous “old” airfields like Midway in Chicago, Hobby in Houston, etc.

 

[Christi]

Southwest was founded at Love Field in Dallas. No flights out of DFW. Hence the Heart logo. They have “ re-vitalized “ numerous “old” airfields like Midway in Chicago, Hobby in Houston, etc.

Yeh, I knew they started at LUV field - but for some reason I thought it was no longer a hub.

 

[Manatee Diver]

Because Houston Hobby is an actual SW HUB and Dallas is not.

Southwest doesn't really follow the traditional hub system, but Dallas Love Field is a hub for Southwest, it is one of their busiest airports and has all their corporate facilities along with being a MX base. The Wright Amendment, which is a horribly example of a Southern Cronyism Law, is the primary reason you won't see international flights out of Love. As part of the repeal Love Field is limited to only 20 gates, and no international flights.

 

[ggunn]

Southwest doesn't really follow the traditional hub system, but Dallas Love Field is a hub for Southwest, it is one of their busiest airports and has all their corporate facilities along with being a MX base.

It's an MX missile base?

 

[WetInPortland]

Southwest doesn’t fly out of DFW. Their existing CUN flights go out of Hobby.

They also fly FLL-CUN. Expanding to provide FLL-CZM or TPA-CZM would be fantastic!

Superlatives aside, one has to wonder how much capacity CZM has. One doesn't have to search to hard to find stories of two hour waits to clear INM and customs when two or three aircraft arrive in close proximity. There is no ILS at CZM according to Airportguide.com; perhaps someone like @gopbroek can comment on typical airline requirements for minimum airport equipment - I don't know if airlines would want to land at night with no ILS. INM and Customs could certianly be staffed up, but there's a reason why the other majors don't even have daily service for a significant portion of the year. This is good news, but let's reconvene at the end of 2020 and see where things are at, before we consume *all* the champagne.

 

[DandyDon]

Houston IAH = United hub

United also uses Denver's newer airport as a hub, but then the idea of a hub is rather fluid.

Oops, my mistake. SWA flies to Cabo from Dallas but with a change in Houson.

Southwest doesn't really follow the traditional hub system, but Dallas Love Field is a hub for Southwest, it is one of their busiest airports and has all their corporate facilities along with being a MX base. The Wright Amendment, which is a horribly example of a Southern Cronyism Law, is the primary reason you won't see international flights out of Love. As part of the repeal Love Field is limited to only 20 gates, and no international flights.

. "The law was partially repealed in 2006 and then fully repealed in 2014." Wright Amendment - Wikipedia