Southwest Airlines moves to fill Spirit's gap in Las Vegas and Orlando

Southwest Airlines is adding flights to two popular sunny destinations following the collapse of Spirit Airlines.

The Dallas-based carrier will increase flight options on dozens of routes from Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) and Orlando International Airport (MCO), where it previously faced off with Spirit — and even some routes where it did not.

All told, Southwest will add or increase service on 26 routes from LAS and 23 from MCO.

The headline numbers, however, can be a bit deceiving. Only four of the 49 affected routes are entirely new announcements for Southwest:

• LAS to Boston Logan International Airport (BOS)
• LAS to McGhee Tyson Airport (TYS) near Knoxville, Tennessee
• LAS to Miami International Airport (MIA)
• LAS to Philadelphia International Airport (PHL)

The four new routes begin in March 2027. A Southwest spokesperson declined to provide additional details.

Read more: The new playbook for booking and flying with Southwest Airlines

"Las Vegas and Orlando are foundational communities in our network, and places where Southwest long has offered the most service, seats, and nonstop travel options," Andrew Watterson, chief operating officer of Southwest, said in a statement. "We're bringing more to our relationship in both places and adding to the hundreds of flights a day we already offer in both communities."

Airport shake-up in Spirit's wake

The jockeying for market share at U.S. airports comes days after Spirit collapsed. The airline shut down in the wee hours on Saturday, May 2, after years of financial struggles, a failed merger with JetBlue and two bankruptcies. At the time of its closure, Spirit flew nearly 2% of domestic U.S. seats, schedule data from aviation analytics firm Cirium shows.

JetBlue is already moving on Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL), previously Spirit's largest base, with 11 new routes. Breeze Airways is adding flights from Atlantic City International Airport (ACY). And Frontier Airlines executives on Tuesday outlined growth opportunities at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), Detroit Metropolitan Airport (DTW), FLL, LAS and MCO.

The moves play to each airline's strength. Southwest was already the largest carrier at both LAS and MCO, and JetBlue had recently taken over the top spot at FLL.

Myrtle Beach International Airport (MYR), LaGuardia Airport (LGA) and Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) are also ones to watch closely for competitive moves, Brett Snyder, author of the blog Cranky Flier, wrote on Thursday. Spirit was the second-largest carrier at MYR and held valuable slots and runway times at LGA and EWR.

Fred Cromer, chief financial officer of Spirit, sought on Monday an expedited sale process for the airline's assets, including gates and slots, from a U.S. bankruptcy court.

Looking ahead

As for Southwest, tickets for its four new LAS routes are not yet on sale.

This week's route announcement comes just days before the carrier gets set to launch its inaugural service to Alaska on May 15.

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• The true Southwest reboot is here, and it may be just the beginning

Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.