Southwest’s latest network revamp features short-haul cuts and tweaks at LaGuardia

Southwest Airlines during winter 2013 plans to cut flights in five short-haul markets with high levels of connecting passengers and reshuffle its operations at New York LaGuardia, launching service to Nashville, Tennessee and adding flights to Chicago Midway as it cuts daily service to Baltimore. The carrier's logic behind its changes at LaGuardia is to bolster customer access to its network in the western US.

The network adjustments the carrier has outlined for its winter schedule largely focus on Southwest-operated services, and do not appear to alter many flights operated by its subsidiary AirTran, which Southwest acquired in May-2011. AirTran tweaks include converting Atlanta-Phoenix service to Southwest-branded service and the seasonal elimination of service from Buffalo to Tampa Bay and Chicago Midway to Fort Myers. Southwest also plans to convert AirTran flights from Milwaukee to New Orleans in Feb-2012 ahead of the Mardi Gras holiday.