Southwest Planning First International Flights
David Wilkening, Travel Mole, 7/10/2008 (excerpted)
With a new deal with Canada's WestJet, Southwest Airlines is planning its first international service.
Southwest said it has taken the first step toward striking a so-called code-sharing agreement and planned to announce schedules and other features of the WestJet partnership by late next year.
The agreement is subject to review by US and Canadian regulators.
The proposed program will use a code-sharing agreement.
Southwest Chairman and Chief Executive Gary Kelly has often talked about offering service to nearby international destinations using a partner airline.
"We are confident that we've found a perfect fit with WestJet, and we are excited to work toward opening our expansive US network to include Canadian destinations," he said in a statement.
Southwest started in the 1970s ferrying passengers around Texas on three planes. It later expanded to both coasts and now serves 64 cities with about 3,400 daily flights and 34,000 employees.
Dallas-based Southwest has never offered international flights, and a code-sharing service to Hawaii ended when partner ATA Airlines failed.
WestJet was created as a regional carrier serving five cities in western Canada and has expanded to 49 locations in Canada, the United States, Mexico, and the Caribbean. Like Southwest, it uses Boeing 737 aircraft.