Category: Southwest Airlines

Southwest Is Planning Its Biggest Summer Schedule Ever

Southwest Airlines is planning its busiest summer yet.

The airline opened its summer 2027 schedule for booking on October 3, with as many as 4,498 flights scheduled on peak days between June 3 and August 2. That’s a lot of flying.

It’s also the most Southwest has ever scheduled for a summer, with some of the biggest growth centered around Austin, Nashville, and San Diego.

There are plenty of new routes mixed in, too, including more international flights from Austin and Nashville.

Southwest Is Adding 7 Seasonal Routes From Austin

Austin is getting one of the biggest expansions.

Southwest plans to operate as many as 143 departures from the airport, including seven seasonal routes. Five of those haven’t previously been offered by the airline.

The biggest additions take Austin outside the U.S. Southwest will add weekend flights to Liberia, Costa Rica; Nassau, Bahamas; and Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, during June and July.

Those join existing Southwest flights from Austin to Cancun, Los Cabos, Puerto Vallarta, and San José, Costa Rica.

Domestically, Southwest is bringing back daily summer service to Portland, Oregon, and Saturday flights to Sarasota. Savannah gets weekend service, while Bozeman is also getting Saturday-only flights.

It’s a fairly substantial summer expansion for an airport where Southwest already has a big presence. And there’s more investment coming.

Austin is one of the first four airports where Southwest plans to open its own airport lounges.

Nashville Keeps Growing

Southwest is going even bigger in Nashville, where it plans to operate as many as 220 flights during summer 2027.

That’s up to 20 more daily departures than summer 2026 and the airline’s largest summer schedule yet in Nashville.

Three new seasonal routes are coming with it. Southwest will add flights from Nashville to Boise, Nassau, and Providenciales in Turks and Caicos. Seasonal service to Bozeman and Portland will return as well.

Worth noting: Nashville is also getting one of the airline’s first lounges, which is already under construction.

More on This: Southwest Airlines Shares Updates on Lounges, Premium Card, and Long-Haul Flying

More Flights Are Coming Elsewhere, Too

San Diego will have as many as 150 Southwest flights during the summer.

That includes up to six daily flights to Austin on peak days and three weekday flights to Seattle. Southwest is also adding Sunday-only seasonal service between San Diego and Oklahoma City, alongside returning summer routes to Bozeman, Columbus, Milwaukee, and Pittsburgh.

Las Vegas and Orlando are growing, too.

Southwest plans as many as 278 flights from Las Vegas, 12 more than the previous summer, while Orlando will reach as many as 173, an increase of 17.

Seasonal daily service between Las Vegas and Anchorage will also return in June. Bozeman gets returning seasonal flights to Chicago Midway and Dallas.

Altogether, Southwest says its summer schedule will reach 4,498 flights on peak days. That amounts to its largest ever.

The new schedule covers travel from June 3 through August 2, 2027, and flights are already available to book.

October 3, 2026
Southwest Airlines Shares Updates on Lounges, Premium Card, and Long-Haul Flying

Southwest Airlines has changed considerably over the past year and a half, from assigned seating and extra-legroom seats to bag fees. But the airline isn’t finished reshaping the guest experience.

Southwest CFO Tom Doxey spoke this week at Morgan Stanley’s annual Laguna Conference and offered a handful of updates on what passengers can expect next.

Some could start showing up fairly soon.

Starlink Is Coming to Hundreds of Southwest Planes

Southwest recently began installing Starlink, and the rollout is moving quickly.

Doxey said the airline expects around 300 aircraft to have Starlink installed by the end of this year, with installations continuing into 2027.

That means the faster Wi-Fi should become much easier to find on Southwest flights over the next few months. There will still be some luck involved, though, as plenty of planes will continue offering Southwest’s existing Wi-Fi until they get Starlink.

Southwest’s Lounge Plans Are Already Taking Shape

Southwest recently confirmed plans to open its first airport lounges in partnership with Chase. This is an amenity the airline has never offered before.

The airline has already said it plans to start with 11 lounges, and Doxey indicated there could eventually be more. But perhaps more interesting is how far along some of those first locations already are.

Construction has started at some locations, Doxey said, while designs and mock-ups are already taking shape. He suggested that early construction work contributed to the lounge plans becoming something of a “worst-kept secret” before Southwest announced them.

He also hinted that the finished product may not look quite like what some people expect from Southwest.

“I think some people are going to be a little surprised, actually, when they say, ‘Oh, this is the Southwest lounge,’” he said.

Southwest still hasn’t revealed all 11 locations. Doxey didn’t name any additional airports, but said the choices should look “very logical” when looking at a map of Southwest’s network.

A More Premium Southwest Credit Card Is Coming

The lounges also give Southwest something new to offer current and future credit card holders.

Southwest has already confirmed plans for a more premium credit card that will offer lounge access, but there’s still no word on when it will arrive or exactly what it will include.

Doxey was unusually direct about why Southwest wants one. He called the absence of a top-tier premium card a “hole” in the airline’s current credit card lineup.

For now, details such as the annual fee, other benefits, and launch date are still up in the air. But with lounge construction already underway, both pieces are getting closer.

The Boeing 737 MAX 7 Could Finally Arrive Next Year

Southwest also expects another long-awaited change to its fleet.

The FAA certified the Boeing 737 MAX 7 in August after years of delays. This finally cleared the smaller MAX variant for commercial service.

Southwest already has 27 MAX 7s that were built before certification and have been sitting in storage. Doxey said Boeing is now working to bring those aircraft up to the final approved specifications.

Southwest expects some of those planes to begin arriving around the end of this year before entering passenger service in early 2027.

International Long-Haul Flying Is Still on the Table

One much bigger potential change is less certain.

Southwest executives have repeatedly floated the possibility of eventually flying farther internationally. Doxey confirmed that the airline is still considering it, although no decision has been made.

“We haven’t decided what we’re doing with that particular item,” Doxey said. “But what we have said is that we’re absolutely considering whether that should be part of the offering that we have.”

There are still some big questions to answer, including where Southwest might fly and what aircraft it would use. For now, long-haul flying is something Southwest is considering rather than a firm plan.

But it’s another example of just how different Southwest could look a few years from now. Assigned seating and bag fees are already changing the airline people know today. Add lounges, a higher-end credit card, better Wi-Fi, and perhaps longer international flights, and Southwest starts to look different in ways that go well beyond how boarding works.

September 18, 2026
Southwest Is Offering Up to 40% Off Flights, Including Points Bookings
Southwest has a new sale that could cut the cost of a fall or winter trip, whether paying with cash or points.

Through September 17, Southwest is offering up to 40% off select flights for travel from October 5, 2026, through March 3, 2027. That covers nearly five months of travel, including much of the fall and winter, although Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s, and several other busy dates are excluded.

The discount also applies when booking with Rapid Rewards points. So if a discounted flight normally costs 15,000 points, for example, the sale could bring that price down along with the cash fare.

Southwest’s 40% Off Sale

There’s no promo code to enter. Southwest automatically shows the discount on eligible flights.
- Book by: September 17, 2026
- Travel from: October 5, 2026 through March 3, 2027
- Discount: Up to 40% off select flights
- Cash and points bookings: Eligible
- Interisland Hawaii flights: Excluded
There are some restrictions beyond the holiday blackout dates. Eligible travel days vary by route, and not every flight will be discounted. For trips within the continental U.S., eligible travel is Monday through Saturday.

This Could Make a Fall or Winter Trip Cheaper

The useful part of this sale is that it isn’t limited to cash tickets. Southwest prices flights in both dollars and Rapid Rewards points, and eligible points bookings get the promotional discount too.

That makes it worth checking any fall or winter trip already in the works. Search the dates on Southwest, switch between dollars and points, and compare the options.

SOUTHWEST.COM

Trips already booked are worth checking, too. Southwest says the promotion applies to new reservations rather than changes to existing ones, but eligible flights can be canceled and rebooked at the lower price. If the new points price is lower, the difference goes back into the Rapid Rewards account.

The booking window is also short. The sale ends September 17, so there are only a few days to see whether the discount lines up with a trip.
September 14, 2026
Southwest Is Going Premium With Airport Lounges and a New Credit Card
Southwest Airlines is getting into the airport lounge business for the first time, and a new premium credit card is coming with it.

The airline announced Wednesday that it plans to build a network of Southwest-branded lounges in partnership with Chase. The first four locations are expected to open in late 2027.

And Southwest isn’t stopping there.

The airline says at least seven additional lounges are planned over the following several years. This will put its initial network at 11 or more locations.

It goes without saying that these developments are another massive shift for Southwest, which has changed a lot about its experience in recent years. The airline has introduced assigned seating and extra-legroom seats, ended its long-standing two-free-checked-bags policy for most customers, and increasingly added products aimed at customers willing to pay more for their trip.

Now, that experience will extend into the airport.

Southwest’s First Lounges Are Coming to 4 Airports

Construction is already underway on Southwest’s first four lounges at:
- Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS)
- Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI)
- Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL)
- Nashville International Airport (BNA)
Southwest expects to begin welcoming guests in late 2027, though it hasn’t provided opening dates for the individual locations.

JOHN CHASE / ISTOCK

The airline is working with Chase on the lounges and plans to draw on the bank’s existing Chase Sapphire Lounge network. Southwest says the spaces will combine its own approach to hospitality with locally inspired dining, more sophisticated design, and amenities and travel benefits already found in Chase’s lounges.

For now, that’s about as specific as Southwest is getting.

The airline hasn’t revealed the size or exact location of the first lounges, what amenities each will offer, or where the next seven or more locations will be. We don’t have renderings yet, either.

The initial airport choices do offer a sense of where Southwest is starting. Austin, Baltimore, Honolulu, and Nashville are all significant Southwest markets.

And with at least 11 lounges now in the pipeline, this is intended to become a network rather than a handful of experiments.

A New Premium Southwest Credit Card Is Coming, Too

Southwest will also introduce a new premium Rapid Rewards credit card from Chase in 2027. The card is slated to provide access to the new lounges.

That’s just about all we know about the card for now.

Southwest hasn’t announced its annual fee, welcome offer, other benefits, or exactly how lounge access will work. We also don’t yet know whether there will be other ways to enter the lounges, including for customers with certain Southwest tickets or elite status.

There are also some interesting questions about how the Southwest and Chase lounge networks will overlap.

Southwest hasn’t said whether Chase Sapphire Reserve cardholders will receive access to Southwest lounges or whether holders of the new Southwest card will have any access to Chase Sapphire Lounges.

Those details will come later. But the new card and lounge network indicate that Southwest is continuing its push to offer more to customers willing to pay for a premium experience.
September 2, 2026