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Southwest Airlines has announced the launch of at least 20 new routes and the addition of Knoxville as a new city in its network, with services set to begin in early March 2025. Among these, three particularly short routes have drawn attention: Milwaukee-Chicago Midway, Knoxville-Nashville, and Tucson-Phoenix. These routes are designed mainly for transit traffic through some of Southwest’s busiest operational hubs.
The new Milwaukee to Chicago Midway route is notable for its brevity, measuring just 70 nautical miles (120 kilometers) each way. This makes it Southwest's second-shortest route after Colorado Springs-Denver, which covers 63 nautical miles. Previously, other carriers such as Midway Connection and ATA Connection had operated this link years ago.
In a statement from 2009, Southwest referred to Milwaukee as "Chicago's third airport." Now the airline will operate twice-daily flights between the two airports starting March 5. Departures from Milwaukee are scheduled for early morning and late afternoon, while flights from Midway will leave mid-morning and late evening.
