Southwest Airlines has been in the midst of a major change in identity over the past several months, and yet another change has sparked disappointment amongst customers.
The airline has already instituted several high-profile changes, ending its longstanding open-seating plan and “bags fly free” policy. However, the airline is making significant changes to its overall strategy and flight map, too.
This week, Southwest announced one of those changes, and customers are not happy about it.
Southwest Ends Six Direct Routes
Over the years, Southwest Airlines has developed quite a reputation as the most dominant point-to-point airline in the United States, prioritizing direct routes between cities regardless of distance as opposed to a hub-and-spoke model, which connects smaller cities via a central hub.
However, this week, Southwest announced that it would be ending six of its direct routes.
Southwest confirmed to First Alert 4 in St. Louis that it would be cutting its direct flights from St. Louis Lambert International Airport to Little Rock, Tulsa, Charlotte, Des Moines, Oklahoma City, and Wichita.
The Change is ‘Disappointing’
Following the news, several people expressed their disappointment with the move, including customers, Lambert officials, and St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer.
“While we are disappointed in the loss of some of these flights, we are still grateful for the strong partnership we have with Southwest Airlines and the service the airline provides for travelers in this region,” Lambert officials told First Alert 4 in a statement on Friday.
Spencer, meanwhile, called the move “disappointing” during a recent press conference.
“This is an issue that impacts our city’s bottom line,” she said, via First Alert 4.
“How is that going to make anything better? To me, they’re going to lose business,” St. Louis resident Beth Huffman told First Alert 4. “This doesn’t help.”
“No, no, absolutely not. Keep people flying,” Southwest passenger Curtis Howard said of the move. “If you’re cutting stuff down, you’re cutting employment, you’re cutting travel—you’re cutting more and more. Grow it, make it bigger.”
Southwest Airlines Addresses the Move
As news of the change began to spread, Southwest Airlines issued a statement to First Alert 4 explaining the decision.
In the statement, Southwest said that it was “redesigning east-west connectivity in our network that has traditionally gone through St. Louis to other SWA points of strength (ICT, DSM, TUL to MDW, LIT to BNA, OKC to DAL).”
While the airline is ending six direct flights, it reaffirmed its commitment to providing “unmatched point-to-point service.”
“Through our March 2026 schedule that was released today, we’ll offer up to 110 departures at St. Louis Lambert International Airport, providing unmatched point-to-point service for local Customers and strong north-south connectivity to the vast Southwest network. We are fully committed to the Gateway City and look forward to serving our loyal Customers there for years to come,” Southwest said in a statement.
More Changes to Come
While Southwest did acknowledge its desire to maintain point-to-point dominance, the reality is that this change could be the first of many direct flights to end as the airline changes its strategy.
While Southwest has long used a point-to-point model compared to the hub-and-spoke model utilized by most other major airlines, the airline’s leadership has recently made it very clear that it intends to move away from a pure point-to-point model and embrace a hybrid system.
Needless to say, more changes could be on the horizon.
