Southwest Airlines - Airline Partnerships

Airline Partnerships

Current

• Volaris

Southwest announced its second international codeshare agreement on November 10, 2008, with Mexican low-cost carrier Volaris. The agreement allows Southwest to sell tickets on Volaris flights. Volaris serves a multitude of United States destinations with service to multiple Mexican cities.

Past

• Icelandair

In 1997, Southwest and Icelandair entered into interline and marketing agreements allowing for joint fares, coordinated schedules, and transfer of passenger luggage between the two airlines in Baltimore. Icelandair operated flights between Baltimore and Keflavik Airport in Iceland. Connecting service between several U.S. cities and several European cities appeared in the Southwest timetable. The frequent flyer programs were not included in the agreement. This arrangement lasted for several years but ended when Icelandair's service to BWI ended in January 2007.

• ATA Airlines

ATA Airlines, one of Southwest Airlines' main competitors in the Chicago market, historically operated out of Midway Airport alongside Southwest.

In a departure from its traditional "go it alone" strategy, Southwest entered into its first domestic codesharing arrangement with ATA, which enabled Southwest Airlines to serve ATA markets in Hawaii, Washington, D.C., and New York City.

The codeshare arrangement expanded to include all of ATA's 17 destinations and all of Southwest's 63 destinations. In 2006, Southwest's pilot union approved a codeshare sideletter to their contract with limitations on the growth of this and other codeshare agreements. While these restrictions today are minor, outsourcing remains a growing concern in the union's current contract negotiations.

During 2006, Southwest Airlines began marketing ATA only flights. ATA's dependence on the Southwest network continued to grow in 2006, and at the time of ATA's demise in April 2008, the airline offered over 70 flights a week to Hawaii from Southwest's focus cities in PHX, LAS, LAX, and OAK with connections available to many other cities across the United States.

The ATA/Southwest codeshare was terminated when ATA filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on April 3, 2008. Towards the end of November 2008, Southwest announced it was buying the operating certificate and the remaining assets of ATA Airlines thus enabling Southwest Airlines access to New York LaGuardia slots formerly controlled by ATA. The purchase doesn't include any aircraft, facilities or employees of ATA.

• WestJet Airlines

On July 8, 2008, Southwest Airlines officially announced the intent to begin a codeshare agreement with WestJet of Canada, giving the two airlines the ability to sell seats on each other's flights. Originally, the partnership was to be finalized by late 2009, but has been postponed due to economic conditions.

On April 16, 2010, Southwest and WestJet airlines amicably agreed to terminate the implementation of a codeshare agreement between the two airlines.