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Southwest Airlines has launched nine new routes in August, with eight starting on August 5 and another beginning August 10. Of these, four had previously been operated by the airline. Five of the newly added routes are now among Southwest's eleven shortest mainland US flights: Sarasota-Orlando, Fort Myers-Orlando, West Palm Beach-Orlando, Louisville-Nashville, and Indianapolis-Chicago Midway.
Most of the new intra-Florida connections and other short-haul links like Louisville-Nashville and Chicago Midway-Indianapolis are intended to support connectivity over key airports in Southwest’s network. These airports—Orlando, Nashville, and Chicago Midway—are among the carrier’s top nine by flight movements. The short segments primarily serve as spokes for passengers connecting to other destinations.
The route between Los Angeles International Airport and Orlando stands out as Southwest’s third-longest domestic mainland service from Los Angeles at 1,927 nautical miles each way. This makes Southwest the fifth airline to operate this city pair recently; JetBlue and Spirit both ended their services on this route in September 2023.
