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  Southwest Airlines

  IATA/ICAO Code:

  WN/SWA

  Airline Type:

  Low-Cost Carrier

  Hub(s):

  Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, Dallas Love Field, Denver International Airport, Harry Reid International Airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Houston Hobby Airport, Los Angeles International Airport, Midway International Airport, Oakland International Airport, Orlando International Airport, Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport

  Year Founded:

  1967

  CEO:

  Robert Jordan

  Country:

  United States

There is no doubt about it: Denver is Southwest's leading airport in July. That's the case whether looking at flights, seats, available seat miles (ASMs; seats x distance), or the number of routes. While Southwest's Denver flights have risen by 11% versus June 2019, they're down by 3% over last July, a period when decisions were made to capture short-term demand.

Multiple eastern routes have been significant frequency cuts versus last year. For example, Albany, Cincinnati, Fort Lauderdale, Grand Rapids, Hartford, Jacksonville, Miami, Norfolk, Panama City, and Pensacola have all reduced from 1x to 2x daily to Saturday-only. Staff shortages probably play a role.

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Denver is firmly number-one

As shown below in order of flights, Denver has 7,386 outbound Denver flights this month, 98% of which are domestic. The Colorado airport has one in every 16 Southwest flights. It illustrates how the airline spreads risk by relying less on one particular airport.

Across July, Southwest has up to 243 departing flights from Denver each day. Funnily enough, Chicago Midway, just 2% short of being number-one, has up to 246 – but it isn't first as it is dragged down by 'only' 181 departing services on Saturdays.

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Southwest's Denver network

Southwest has 86 routes from the airport this month. It has added 22 since the pandemic struck, with the most renowned perhaps intra-Colorado services to Colorado Springs (Southwest's shortest route), Montrose, and Steamboat Springs.

In 2022, it added Cozumel (began on March 12th, returned June 11th) and Eugene (June 11th). At 1,697 miles (2,730km), Cozumel is Southwest's sixth-longest Denver route, behind Liberia, Belize City, Boston, Miami, and Fort Lauderdale. Both Eugene and Cozumel are served on a Saturday-only basis and compete head-to-head with United.

Some 37 USA states are served in July. California has more flights than anywhere else and twice as many as number-two, Texas. California is responsible for nearly one in every five Southwest departures (21%) across 13 routes. Three started since the pandemic took hold: Palm Springs (November 2020), Fresno (April 2021), and Santa Barbara (April 2021).

Top ten Denver routes

The following ten routes are so important to Southwest that they have three in every ten flights at the airport. Unlike in July 2019, Los Angeles and Nashville are no longer in the top ten, while Austin and Salt Lake City have joined.

1. Phoenix: 305 departing flights in July; up to 10x daily
2. Las Vegas: 295; up to 10x daily
3. Chicago Midway: 264; up to 9x daily
4. Dallas Love: 243; up to 8x daily
5. San Diego: 212; up to 7x daily
6. Austin: 207; up to 7x daily
7. Houston Hobby: 206; up to 7x daily
8. Salt Lake City: 197; up to 7x daily
9. St Louis: 181; up to 6x daily
10. Kansas City: 176; up to 6x daily

Will you be flying Southwest to Denver this year? If so, let us know in the comments.