If everything goes smoothly,  Southwest Airlines may be offering service for the first time ever from the Long Beach Airport.

 

The Texas-based airline was granted four of nine additional flight slots that were recently added at the airport. JetBlue Airways, which already holds 32 slots as the airport’s primary air carrier, received three new slots, while Delta Air Lines, another existing air carrier, received two new slots.

Southwest Airlines has for the first time broken into the Long Beach market following an allocation of nine new flight slots made available at the Long Beach Airport. (Southwest Airlines photograph)

 

Southwest officially announced its interest in serving Long Beach at an employee gathering in Las Vegas on February 10, a day after airport management, the city attorney’s office and outside counsel allocated the slots through a prescribed process.  Southwest employees also gathered in Downtown Los Angeles to cheer on the announcement.

 

In Southern California, Southwest currently serves four airports, including Los Angeles International (LAX), Burbank, Santa Ana and Ontario airports.

 

“Long Beach would make it five for five in greater L.A. for Southwest, and would give us another service point to fulfill our promise to connect our California customers not only to what’s important but also to where is important in planning business, vacation or personal travel plans,” Gary Kelly, Southwest’s chairman, president and CEO, told employees, according to a statement.

 

“Nobody can match the value you all bring to air travel with our world-famous hospitality, and no one can offer California what we do on a daily basis, especially with the attractive addition of our low-fare service at Long Beach,” he added.

 

As a new air carrier to the city, Southwest was automatically given two slots as required by the city’s flight allocation resolution while the rest of the slots were allocated on a “sequential basis,” according to the city attorney’s office.

 

The nine additional flight slots were offered after a recent noise analysis audit indicated that cumulative noise levels from aircraft have decreased at the airport. This increases the airport’s total air carrier flight slots from 41 to 50.

 

Under the city’s noise ordinance, the airport is required to offer additional flight slots to airlines if noise levels fall below an established floor. According to the analysis, noise has reduced primarily because airplanes have become quieter through advancements in technology.

Kelly told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that Southwest is considering Las Vegas as a potential destination from Long Beach.

 

Bob Montgomery, vice president of airport affairs for Southwest, stated in an e-mail to the Business Journal that he couldn’t confirm destination info, adding that details about flight schedules and low fares would be published in the weeks ahead.

 

Southwest, however, still needs to determine whether the level of capacity allocated for Long Beach Airport makes initiating service “financially viable,” Long Beach Airport Director Bryant Francis said in a statement.

 

He said the airport is currently in the process of drafting an allocation award letter to each of the three airlines. Air carriers have up to six months from the point of notification to begin operations and 90 days to make flights available for sale, Francis said.