Southwest Airlines seeks US government’s approval to fly between US and Canada

Southwest Airlines, the low-cost airline based in Dallas, Texas, the United States, has applied to the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) for international route authority to operate flights between the United States and Canada.

Southwest Airlines, which at present flies only within the United States, has also announced its intention to enter into partnerships. The proposed tie-ups would enable Southwest’s partners to pick up Southwest’s customers at airports in the United States and carry them to places which Southwest does not serve, including the Caribbean, Mexico and Canada.

The carrier said in a statement that is also looking for a marketing partner to fly its customers to Hawaii – a destination Southwest Airlines has been unable to offer since ATA Airlines filed for bankruptcy and stopped flying in April 2008.

Southwest Airlines, with its largest focus city at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, the United States, has been operating for 37 years now. The leading low-fare carrier of the United States is also the nation’s largest carrier in terms of domestic passengers carried.  Southwest Airlines currently serves 64 cities in 32 states in the United States, operates over 3,300 flights a day, and has more than 35,000 employees system-wide. The airline plans to begin service to Minneapolis/St Paul Airport in March 2009.

In the statement, Southwest Airlines said: “The application for a certificate to provide foreign air transportation is required by law before Southwest Airlines can fully implement its previously announced codeshare agreement with Canadian carrier WestJet Airlines. The certificate would also allow Southwest Airlines the authority to operate flights to Canada with its own planes, though the airline does not have any plans to do so at this time.”

Southwest Airlines has already signed agreements with WestJet Airlines to provide Canadian service and with Mexican carrier Volaris to carry passengers to Mexico. Southwest, the statement added, “plans to put its code on those carriers’ flights rather than serve those countries itself.”

The arrangement entered into by Southwest Airlines with WestJet Airlines, announced on July 8, 2008, is more extensive than the deal with Volaris, and includes Southwest’s recent addition of WestJet Airlines’ reservations information on its website. The link on Southwest Airlines’ website is meant for customers to book travel with WestJet Airlines, as well as learn more about its service, policies, procedures and frequently asked questions.

Southwest Airlines had announced the codesharing agreement with Volaris on November 10, 2008. At that time, Southwest had said it expected to announce Mexican schedules and other details by early 2010.

Southwest Airlines said it expects to receive the United States Department of Transportation’s approval for its application for the Canadian service in the first quarter of 2009 and that Southwest and WestJet could announce their joint schedules in the last half of 2009.