Destinations
As of November 2012, Southwest Airlines operates scheduled service to 78 destinations in 39 states, the newest being Key West on November 4, 2012.
Southwest does not use the more traditional "hub and spoke" flight routing system of most other major airlines, preferring instead the "Point to Point" system. It has notably large operations in certain airports. An average of 80 percent of Southwest passengers are local passengers, meaning only 20 percent of all passengers are connecting passengers. This is significantly higher than most airlines, where passengers often connect in hub cities. However, at Southwest's focus cities, the percentage of connecting passengers can reach 30 percent.
As part of its effort to control costs, Southwest sometimes uses secondary airports in cities which generally have high costs. Secondary airports generally have lower costs and may be more convenient to travelers than major airports to the same destinations. For example, Southwest flies to Chicago-Midway instead of Chicago-O'Hare.
Read more about this topic: Southwest Airlines