Southwest
New Orleans; and Albuquerque, New Mexico.
“This transcontinental nonstop journey between the South Bay-Peninsula areas and Florida is another addition in a steady drumbeat of investment Southwest is making in San Jose,” said Nate Barker, senior capacity planner for Southwest Airlines.
Southwest last week also disclosed plans to connect both Oakland International Airport and Mineta San Jose International Airport with flights to at least one destination, and possibly multiple major destinations, in the Hawaiian Islands.
Southwest’s plans to create gateways connecting Hawaii to Oakland, San Jose, Sacramento and San Diego must clear regulatory approval by the Federal Aviation Administration.
“We’re on track with our plans to sell tickets this year and are respectfully engaged in the process to receive FAA authorization to operate between the mainland and the Islands,” Southwest President Tom Nealon said during a community meeting in Honolulu to discuss the upcoming flights to Hawaii. Hawaii schedules and the start of flight service to the South Pacific island chain
“The economy and Silicon Valley continue to hum along. There is a fear of an inevitable dip in the economy, but unemployment is at record lows and people are feeling confident in the economy.” — Rosemary Barnes, a spokeswoman for Mineta San Jose International Airport
haven’t been disclosed.
Air travel has spiked this year at San Jose airport, compared with the pace of recent years.
During the first three months of 2018, passenger activity soared 18.5 percent compared to the same three-month period of 2017. That’s much stronger passenger growth than 2017, when trips rose 15.6 percent; 2016, when passenger activity increased 10.2 percent compared with the year before; and 2015, when passenger trips were up 4.4 percent.
“The economy and Silicon Valley continue to hum along,” Barnes said. “There is a fear of an inevitable dip in the economy, but unemployment is at record lows and people
are feeling confident in the economy.”
The expansion by Southwest leaves Bay Area travelers poised to take advantage of lower fares due to increased competition.
“Southwest, Frontier, Alaska, along with other carriers that are growing bit by bit at San Jose, give people the ability to travel that they didn’t have in the past,” Barnes said. “Everybody has their eye on Silicon Valley, with incredible growth, especially with Google in downtown San Jose, and the expansions in the general area by Apple and Facebook.”