Southwest Celebrates Two Decades of Steady Growth in Pittsburgh

Twenty years ago, Southwest Airlines was a new entrant to Western Pennsylvania. Today, it is Pittsburgh’s busiest carrier of passenger traffic with the largest network of nonstop destinations.

Southwest’s arrival on May 4, 2005, with four destinations marked the beginning of Pittsburgh International Airport’s pivot from a major connecting hub to an origin-and-destination airport. The Dallas-based airline was the first of many new airlines to enter the Pittsburgh market following US Airways’ financial struggles and drawdown of its hub at PIT.

“Southwest Airlines is an incredible partner with Pittsburgh International Airport and its arrival here 20 years ago was a game-changer for the region. The airline has grown to become the airport’s busiest carrier, demonstrating our strong market,” said PIT CEO Christina Cassotis. “From their support of our new terminal program to multiple air service additions, Southwest has consistently shown its support for Pittsburgh, and we look forward to celebrating this milestone achievement.”

Rhett Morgan, senior director of business development for industry consulting firm Ailevon Pacific, said Southwest was a huge win for PIT, not only by filling US Airways’ void, but by enhancing the overall service available in the market.

“Southwest is one of the most highly coveted airlines for cities that are pursuing air service. They have great brand, product, history and longtime success. Even more important is that their network model enables unique growth and lots of optionality from its hybrid of a point-to-point and hub-and-spoke network,” he said.

Southwest was the first low-cost carrier to bring service to PIT as part of the airport’s strategy to enhance competition, reduce fares and create more options for Pittsburghers.

“Any city that has hub service from a legacy carrier typically has higher airfares, and, Pittsburgh had that environment,” Morgan said. “For Southwest to come in with low fares and introduce reliable, successful low-cost cost service on a major domestic carrier was extremely important for Pittsburgh.”

Southwest initially expanded service at PIT to the airline’s major cities, including Baltimore, Chicago-Midway, Las Vegas, Orlando, Phoenix and Tampa. Later, Southwest added service to other major bases, including Dallas-Love Field, Denver, Houston-Hobby, Nashville and St. Louis.

Southwest’s $1.4 billion acquisition of AirTran Airways in 2011 allowed the airline to expand its Pittsburgh footprint further by introducing service to Atlanta, Fort Lauderdale and Fort Myers, and additional flights on existing service to Orlando and Tampa.

But Southwest has gone beyond serving its large bases of operations, expanding into underserved markets popular with Pittsburghers, Morgan added.

“They’re not only connecting Pittsburgh to their big focus cities that enable onward connectivity, but also large origin-and-destination and more point-to-point, ‘niche’ markets – big leisure markets – so they can be the carrier of choice for the local Pittsburgh resident,” he said.

The AirTran acquisition also enabled Southwest to begin flying international routes. In 2017, Southwest began its first-ever international flights from Pittsburgh with seasonal, weekly service to Cancun, Mexico, operating during the peak spring and summer travel months.

Southwest also took advantage of the post-pandemic leisure travel boom by adding Miami, Myrtle Beach and Sarasota to its PIT network in 2021. That same year, the airline launched nonstop service to Austin, a growing business market for Pittsburgh’s technology industry, which quickly expanded from weekly, seasonal service to a daily, year-round schedule.

Most recently, Southwest began nonstop service to San Diego in 2024, addressing one of Pittsburgh’s largest unserved markets and helping PIT’s West Coast air service strategy. Following a successful first year, Southwest announced it will bring back Pittsburgh-San Diego nonstop flights beginning on June 7.

In recognition of Southwest’s 20 years of service in Pittsburgh, the airport launched “20 Days of LUV” on May 1. The celebration will continue through May 20, culminating with a daylong event held at Southwest’s ticket counter with a cake cutting, card presentation and speakers from PIT and the airline.

The 20-day celebration will feature gate events and giveaways, social media posts, and other activities. Twenty days were selected to represent Southwest’s 20 years of service, and the number of nonstop destinations it operates from PIT.

“We appreciate the support from the Pittsburgh and Allegheny County community, which has allowed us to grow and serve the community with more service to the places customers want to visit,” said Mike Gillock, Regional Manager of Airport Affairs at Southwest Airlines. “We’re looking forward to celebrating this milestone with our partners from the airport, community members, customers and most importantly our employees who deliver the hospitality that customers have come to know and love.”