NWA airport to renew push for Southwest Airlines
HIGHFILL — Northwest Arkansas National Airport officials say they’re going to make another effort to recruit Southwest Airlines to the airport next year.
Airport officials said Tuesday they’re working with airport consultants Sky Synergy to form a plan for 2024 and beyond.
Southwest flies from airports in Tulsa and Little Rock, but not Northwest Arkansas.
Staff members will evaluate which routes could be successful and what monetary proposition would be required to get Southwest at the airport, according to Andrew Branch, chief operating officer. The plan will include an advisory committee with interested community leaders.
“We’re going to enter into a formal recruitment plan for Southwest, which we haven’t done for a few years,” Branch said. “There is no guarantee these efforts will be successful, but XNA’s leadership team is committed to putting the necessary resources into this recruitment effort.”
In an email Wednesday, Chris Perry, a spokesman for Southwest Airlines, didn’t respond directly to a question from the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette about whether the airline is considering coming to Northwest Arkansas.
“For some background, our network planning teams are continually evaluating new and existing markets to determine the best fit for Southwest and our Customers,” Perry wrote. “However, now that we’ve restored our network to pre-pandemic levels, our focus has turned to optimizing (connecting and maturing existing markets, added depth to current routes) the existing dots on our map.”
In November 2021, Northwest Arkansas National Airport Authority Board members were told Southwest probably wasn’t interested in coming to the airport for business reasons.
“Since November 2021, the Northwest Arkansas market has grown considerably, and 2023 will be a record year for XNA. XNA has not seen as much growth in the number of seats available to passengers compared to other markets,” Branch said. “The management of XNA believe these factors have created an opportunity for a low-cost carrier like Southwest to enter the market with daily service to some markets where they should have sufficient demand to be successful.”