Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links below. This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
As I wrote about back in July 2024, Southwest has added redeye flights. This is something that the carrier has never done in its 57 years of operation.
Southwest’s systems used to need to be reset daily. This forced all landings to occur by 11:00 PM PST. A switch to Amadeus as well as newly signed pilot and flight attendant contracts means that Southwest will turn into a 24-hour operation. The airline celebrated the change on February 13th with launch parties in Las Vegas Harry Reid International Airport (LAS), Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), and Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX). Passengers were given eye masks as a new amenity on these flights.
The first five redeye flights include:
- Las Vegas Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) to Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI)
- Las Vegas Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) to Orlando International Airport (MCO)
- Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI)
- Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to Nashville International Airport (BNA)
- Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) to Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI)
In November 2023, Southwest’s CEO, Bob Jordan, told the Dallas Morning News:
It’s a logical evolution for us. We have the aircraft, it’s a great way to use an asset that you already have and use it more productively which means more hours in the day. So, we will be doing redeyes.”
I try to avoid redeyes whenever possible as I cannot sleep and end up being a zombie the next day. They make sense in terms of aircraft utilization and Southwest will now be able to offer what American, Delta, and United have forever.
Anthony’s Take: Financially this makes sense for Southwest and its passengers will likely welcome the additional choices. I’m not hurrying out to hop on a Southwest redeye flight, but the airline is now aligned with the other legacy carriers.
(Featured Image Credit: Southwest Airlines.)
User Generated Content Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat encourages constructive discussions, comments, and questions. Responses are not provided by or commissioned by any bank advertisers. These responses have not been reviewed, approved, or endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the responsibility of the bank advertiser to respond to comments.
Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
