These major airports just made Southwest Airlines’ no fly list, and it’s making frequent flyers furious.
Passengers prepared for takeoff out of Chicago O’Hare International (ORD) and Washington Dulles International (IAD) after June 4 must now make new arrangements, per the company’s move to discontinue service at the hubs.
Southwest announced the stoppage on Friday, citing the company’s “ongoing efforts to refine its network,” and assuring customers of its continued presence in both regions.
“These changes do not represent any significant changes in flight availability for these cities,” reads the statement, insisting that the commercial carrier will maintain its “robust service at Chicago Midway (MDW), Baltimore Washington International (BWI) and Washington Reagan National (DCA).”
Representatives for Southwest tell The Post that “all affected frontline employees will have the opportunity to bid for open positions across our network, including at MDW,” in part.
“All affected customers have been contacted and offered an opportunity to rebook or to receive a full refund,” said the spokesperson.
Travel experts for The Points Guy, an online jet-setting resource, say customers “booked to IAD can change their flights to BWI, DCA, Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) or Richmond International Airport (RIC) in Virginia.”
“And those booked to ORD can change their flights to MDW, Indianapolis International Airport (IND) or Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport (MKE),” per the pros.
Still, annoyed trippers are flying to social media to air out their grievances with the airline.
“As someone who frequently flies to different parts of Chicago — NO!!,” tweeted a vexed X user. “SouthwestAir you are diminishing my loyalty by the minute.”
“Major loss for Chicago,” another moaned.
“Travelers in those areas are definitely going to feel that change,” warned a separate worrywart.
Southwest began service to O’Hare in 2021, as part of the company’s post-pandemic expansion. It’s been operated out of Dulles since 2006.
New York-based travelers are not expected to be impacted by the imprint’s most recent update.
But the shake-up comes amid a flurry of changes at Southwest, including the end of its “bags fly free”policy, as well as its freshly established, polemical “assigned seating” and “customers of size” policies.
No stranger to making controversial cuts, the Dallas-based company previously reduced its business at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport — crowned the world’s busiest airport — while cutting 300 pilot and flight attendant positions that service the area in 2024.
“Although we try everything we can before making difficult decisions like this one,” read a Southwest memo that was issued at the time of the cuts, “we simply cannot afford continued losses and must make this change to help restore our profitability.”
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