Southwest puts summer fares on sale

Seeking to stem a drop in ticket sales in the wake of a fatal accident on one of its flights in April, Southwest Airlines on Tuesday put summer fares on sale.

The airline is offering one-way fares starting at $49, $79, $99, $129 and $149, depending upon flight distance.

The sale comes as Southwest has acknowledged softer ticket sales following the death of a passenger when an engine exploded in-flight April 17, sending shrapnel into the fuselage and shattering a window, causing a rapid cabin depressurization.

“We noted on our recent earnings call that we saw an impact to our bookings following Flight #1380,” Southwest spokeswoman Thais Hanson said in a statement to USA TODAY’s Today in the Sky blog. “As we go back into the market with full marketing efforts for the first time since Flight #1380 we’re giving our direct distribution model a boost in order to stimulate bookings to our website.”

The four-day “Sale of the Summer” promotion ends Friday and covers travel between June 5 and Oct. 31. The sale includes select destinations from Milwaukee.

As usual with a big fare sale, there is plenty of fine print. The most notable: The cheapest fares are available only for travel on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and only on nonstop flights.

Southwest is the market share leader at Milwaukee’s Mitchell International Airport, handling nearly half of the airport’s passenger traffic.

Examples of starting one-way fares from Milwaukee:

$49

❚ Cleveland

❚ Kansas City, Mo.

$79

❚ Atlanta

❚ Baltimore/Washington

❚ New York LaGuardia

$99

❚ Boston Logan

❚ Denver

❚ Houston (Hobby)

❚ Orlando

$149

❚ Las Vegas

❚ Los Angeles

❚ Phoenix