Comments on: Southwest Heads North to Minneapolis

By: Todd J

Todd J — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 13:43:31 +0000

Interesting to see that LUV has added a MSP-DEN route not even a month after MSP-MDW service started. LUV is doing well in MSP thus far (better than they first expected), hence the new service to DEN. I am sure LUV will add another city or two from MSP before year-end 2009 if the service to DEN is well attended.

By: Robert S

Robert S — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 19:32:35 +0000

As a long time SWA traveler who travels to MSP a lot, I’m thrilled at the new destination. I bet local response will be tremendous–MSP is a really big market (metro population is bigger than Denver) and competition is scarce in part because Sun Country is so limited on destinations and schedules. The limiting factor to MSP growth will simply be Southwest’s cutback in growth of the fleet overall.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see Sun Country refocus on charters plus their niche of MSP based (mostly international) vacation and specialty markets.

John M–Many car rental companies do stage some cars in the Humphrey terminal parking structure, so it is very convenient with no shuttling involved. Though they don’t stage a lot of cars there–if you want a wide selection of cars to choose from you’d need to train over to the Lindbergh terminal.

By: Weekend Update | Flight Wisdom

Weekend Update | Flight Wisdom — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 17:21:27 +0000

[...] Southwest may be taking a cautious stand, or it may be limiting its growth. The Cranky Flier disagrees, and predicts they will announce more destinations before the service starts. Either way, there is [...]

By: CF

CF — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 18:34:24 +0000

A – Yeah, I missed a lot of the Sun Country saga while I was away, so that’s why I didn’t comment on it. It sounds like the owner, Petters, has been involved in some shady stuff. I have to assume that Sun Country will be in serious trouble if they can’t find anyone else to take them. With Southwest dipping its toe into MSP, I would be surprised to see them come back out of this as a scheduled carrier. But there can always be some lucrative work in the charter world, so maybe they go back to focusing on that business. I’m not sure, but it’s unclear what will happen to them right now.

L1011 – Who knows. There’s been speculation about Charlotte, Cincinnati, etc for years but until this recent Minneapolis announcement, they hadn’t been going into the places you’d expect them to be. Charlotte probably has some good business to be had, but it’s apparently not at the top of the list yet.

John M – They have rental counters in the Humphrey terminal (though I’m not sure where the cars are). Check it out:
http://www.mspairport.com/msp/Ground_Transportation/Car_Rental.aspx

By: John M.

John M. — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 10:42:43 +0000

Boy, cruising in and out of that small terminal would be a breeze as long as they have some rental counters there.

By: L1011

L1011 — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 18:35:18 +0000

Cranky, how long until WN heads in one of the last fortress hubs, CLT? I realize one down side, the local market is pretty small.

I think MSP is a great move for WN. I agree with your assessment of where they will eventually fly. I would think PVD or MHT would also be in the mix.

By: A

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 18:27:43 +0000

Cranky, as a frequent flyer out of MSP I would like to hear your comments on the whole Sun Country saga as of late. I’ve always been a fan of Sun Country over the usual surly service I receive on NW and DL. Unfortunately they are mostly a leisure airline with seasonal flights to places like MIA and not nearly enough frequency to places like DFW to get many business travelers.

As for WN, I welcome them to MSP. Not sure how they will affect local travel until they build a route map beyond Chicago. Doesn’t WN code-share with Westjet in Canada? MSP seems a logical location for WN to funnel Texas petro business travelers to Westjet flights to places like YYC & YEG. (Get on a NW flight out of MSP to those places and over half of them connected from Dallas or Houston, aka, WN country.) Still, the bigger question is what will DL do with MSP once the merger is complete? The Twin Cities has a sizable amount of Fortune 500 sized businesses for a metro of its size that demands a lot of high profit business travel. If DL cuts service or makes us fly through ATL to get anywhere I think WN could make a killing here.

By: Sara

Sara — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 17:05:16 +0000

Also, in addendum – if Southwest can get the Chicago fares down to where they used to be (around $100 or less RT), that’s a vast improvement over what we’re being charged currently. I could not believe a flight on NWA to O’Hare charging $280 RT last March. It was cheaper (and more cost efficient) to simply buckle up and drive across Wisconsin.

By: CF

CF — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 17:03:01 +0000

Kevin – That makes a lot of sense. As for the SY overlap, I’d guess we’d see many of the Florida and Southwest US sun spots but probably also maybe BNA and MCI over time. Of course, I highly doubt we’ll see the kind of insane build up we’ve seen in DEN.

By: Sara

Sara — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 16:59:33 +0000

As a Minneapolitan who travels frequently, I’m simply beside myself with excitement. Sun Country is incredible when it comes to service and prices, but their business associations recently with the downed exec Petters makes everyone a bit skittish to fly with them.

Humphrey terminal is actually fully rebuilt and is clean, empty, and easy to get through. The terminal has connection to Lindburgh on a free light-rail system that also connects the Mall of America and downtown Minneapolis (and soon, other locations). When the Humphrey terminal was rebuilt (funded by the smaller airlines that fly there), Northwest tried to bully their way in there without paying a dime. The Lindburgh terminal is okay, but it is run down and falling apart compared to the gorgeous, clean Humphrey terminal. Also something kind of different – IcelandAir flies into MSP – Humphrey.

Northwest has dominated the market in MSP for far too long, forcing residents here to deal with sometimes substandard domestic service (int’l service has always been decent for me), and serious prices for flights. How does a direct flight to Boston cost three hundred dollars more than it does than from San Francisco/Oakland/Portland/Denver/Vegas? They have something crazy like 80+% market share, which pushes out the competition.

Everyone here has been begging for Southwest to come up – great, streamlined, efficent terminal (think difference between London Gatwick and City), people sick of paying overinflated prices, and willing to give a reputable brand like Southwest a try to equate the Minnesota Nice standard of customer service.

In short: CANNOT WAIT.