We Want Low Fares!

AirTran Airways has been serving our market since May 2010 and recently announced plans to merge with Southwest Airlines. The community is benefiting from significant fare declines across carriers since the launch of AirTran – with an annual estimated savings of $22 million. Losing the current AirTran service would be detrimental to our community, sending fares soaring and severely limiting future efforts to secure low-cost carrier service.

Huntsville has a seat at the table with the merger!

  • The efforts of the airport and the community to secure AirTran last year are the reason Huntsville now has an opportunity to secure Southwest Airlines’ service.
  • Had Huntsville International Airport not already been part of the AirTran system, it is unlikely it would have received serious consideration from Southwest until well after the integration of the carriers following the merger.
  • Without Southwest, Huntsville has few viable alternatives for broad low-cost service. Other low-cost carrier hubs are not geographically positioned to offer low fares to a broad range of markets.

This is a great boon for the entire Tennessee Valley because attracting, and sustaining, a low-cost carrier is a communitywide issue that affects each and every one of us – no matter whether we travel for pleasure or business. Whereas with AirTran opportunities are limited primarily to Baltimore, Orlando, and its Atlanta hub, Southwest Airlines has multiple additional focus cities, creating connections in all directions.
Southwest Airlines opportunities:

  • Flights to Baltimore and Orlando will connect to additional destinations, providing additional fares savings to Huntsville
  • As a market with 71% business passengers, Huntsville International Airport fits well into Southwest’s growing focus on business markets
  • Opportunities to add flights from other Southwest Airlines’ focus cities, which could lower fares to a much wider range of destinations  
  • The combined airline will have a much stronger presence in both Baltimore and Orlando, creating potential for increased revenue on Huntsville flights – fares savings to Baltimore could result in $11 million in additional savings!
With broad community support and solid analytics, we will make the case for Southwest to retain the current AirTran service and consider expanding.

But we need more support. Demonstrating broad community support will be critical to retaining and expanding Southwest’s service.

  • Fly AirTran! And encourage your coworkers, family, friends, and neighbors to do the same.
  • Complete the “AirTran/Southwest Merger SUPPORT FORM”
    • Corporate travel data is critical to building the business case.
    • Companies must be willing to make commitments to support Southwest Airlines – this will mean more than just writing a letter.

 

Merger Supporters:

  • Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association
  • BG Smith & Associates, Inc.
  • Chapman Sisson Architects
  • CohesionForce
  • Decatur Morgan County Entrepreneurial Center
  • DESE Research
  • Foreign Language Service, Inc.
  • Huntsville Madison County Convention & Visitors Bureau
  • Jackson County Tourism
  • Greater Limestone County Chamber of Commerce
  • Greater Jackson County Chamber of Commerce
  • LaQuinta Madison
  • Lawrence County Industrial Development Board
  • Limestone County Economic Development Association
  • Morgan County Economic Development Association
  • Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne/United Technologies Corp
  • Randolph School
  • S3
  • SAIC
  • Snelling Search
  • The Boeing Company
  • UA Huntsville
  • US Senator Richard Shelby

Pledge Your Support!

You can be a part of this low-cost carrier community recruitment initiative

Pledge your corporate support today

Pledge your individual support today

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