The number of flights scheduled to pass through O’Hare International Airport this month has plunged to less than half last year’s level as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to devastate air travel.
Sunday, there will nonetheless be a new carrier at the airport: Southwest Airlines, seizing an opportunity to move in as other airlines scaled back.
“We want to bring the ‘Southwest effect’ to O’Hare,” said Dave Harvey, vice president of Southwest Business.
Southwest has been credited with spurring a drop in fares when it enters a market, and early data suggest fares are down on the handful of routes where Southwest will compete with O’Hare’s biggest carriers. But that effect may be more muted than usual — O’Hare already has a handful of budget carriers, and Southwest isn’t new to the city. It has a strong presence at Midway Airport, which will remain its primary hub.
The Dallas-based airline will operate 16 flights per day to Dallas, Baltimore, Denver, Phoenix and Nashville out of three gates at Terminal 5, which typically handles international flights.
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