Southwest Airlines to cut 30 routes next spring

Southwest will cut up as many as 30 routes from the map in March next year, the company’s latest transformation to boost profits.

The layoffs hit Denver International Airport (DEN), the largest flight airport and seat for the Dallas-based airline – St. Louis Lambert International Airport (STL) was the hardest, with seven routes lost each, the latest timeline data from the aviation analytics company Cirium exhibition.

The cuts come from Southwest’s March 2026 plan update, which also includes more than a dozen new routes, plus a new destination: McGee Tyson Airport (TYS) near Knoxville, Tennessee. These additions and larger schedule updates include more connected flights that are starting to turn toward a whole new thing toward the southwest: a similar roadmap to traditional airlines.

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“We will still have the largest peer-to-peer network in the industry, but with other connectivity options stratified, driving improved network utilities and offering more options for our customers,” Southwest Chief Operating Officer Andrew Watterson said in late July. “Connecting opportunities will vary by season, day by day and time with less connections during peak hours.”

Southwest Airlines is in a bigger shift to increase profits. It starts charging bags in May and will start allocating seats early next year and selling new timeroom seats.

What routes have been cut down in the southwest?

Southwest Airlines will end 30 routes based on TPG’s analysis of the airline’s schedule update, which will be conducted from March 5, 2026 to April 6, 2026. The airline will not post flights beyond that date.

A Southwest spokesman said many of the reductions were seasonal, with only 11 routes deemed to be “permanent” exits. However, all routes to all TPG lists are conducted in a full year before March 2026.

The highest cuts occurred at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL), which lost its integral part at LaGuardia Airport (LGA) and Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU) in New York, North Carolina. Southwest faces fierce competition on both routes of Atlanta Air Lines Delta Airlines, but both are themselves large commercial markets.

Dan lost seven previous year-round “seasonality” unchanged: Albany International Airport (ALB) and Buffalo Niagara International Airport (BUF) in New York, Bradley International Airport (BDL) in New York, Bradley International Airport (BDL) near Charleston International Airport (CHS), South Carolina, in South Carolina, at Charlotte Dougs International Airport (Clt), Norfelke Airport (ORFOLK) and Virginia and the islands on Virginia, Providence, Cirium schedule shows.

The seven routes dropped from STL are: Hollywood Burbank Airport (BUR), California; clt; Des Moines International Airport (DSM), Iowa; Clinton National Airport (LIT) in Little Rock, Arkansas; Tulsa International Airport (TUL) in Oklahoma and Will Rogers International Airport (OKC) in Oklahoma City; and Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport (ICT) in Kansas.

Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI), Harry Reed International Airport (LAS) in Las Vegas and Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport (Oak Tree) in California also saw cuts.

Southwest Airlines’ new connected flights

Southwest has made more changes to its plans in addition to adding routes to targeted connect travelers. It also adds routes designed to facilitate connections, another major change in Southwest’s strategy. These routes are only a few travelers flying between them every day, often short – usually only a few hundred miles – directly into and out of the airline’s large base.

The March 2026 schedule update includes some of them, such as Southwest Airlines’ new route between Chicago’s Midway International Airport (MDW) and Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport (MKE), which is only 80 miles, and Nashville International Airport (BNA) and TYS (BNA) and TYS (BNA) and TYS (BNA) and TYS (BNA) and TYS (BNA) and TYS (BNA) and TYS (BNA) and TYS (BNA) and TYS (BNA) and TYS (BNA) and TYS (BNA) and TYS (BNA) and TYS (BNA).

In March, the airline will also add new NONSTOP for connections between MDW and DSM, ICT and TUL, as well as Dallas Love Field (DAL) and OKC.

Brett Snyder, author of Blog Cranky Flier, wrote on Monday that the four southwest bases of the Southwest bases (BNA, DEN, MDW and STL) – see Rearranged as four connected “banks” or coordinated to facilitate connected flights on arrival and departure.

“With better connectivity, creating opportunities throughout the day with four hubs and introducing red-eye, Southwest has become something it has always pretended not to want to be…a well-equipped connectivity agency,” he wrote.

Here is a list of all routes in Southwest in March 2025, which will end permanently or seasonally.

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