Airline and Airport Choice by Passengers in Multi-Airport Regions: The Effect of Southwest Airlines∗

∗We want to thank Breandán Ó hUallacháin of Arizona State University and Dimitris Potoglou of McMaster University for assistance with our logit analysis; Barbara Trapido-Lurie for cartographic help; Jong-Geun Kim for GIS assistance; and Patricia Gober, Lawrence Gesell, and Andrew Goetz for their insightful suggestions. Finally, we would like to thank Albert Stevens and Roberta Morris from Southwest Airlines and Chris Villa from America West Airlines for granting us airport access that helped facilitate our surveys.

Abstract

The business strategy of Southwest Airlines (SWA) features low fares and direct flights between major cities. To minimize aircraft turnaround times, SWA favors smaller, urban-fringe airports over larger, more congested airports. We surveyed passengers flying to the multi-airport regions of Boston–Providence and Baltimore–Washington to assess how many and what types of passengers choose their less convenient airport and why. Maps of final destinations illustrate a reverse traffic shadow favoring smaller airports served by SWA. Motives for choosing less convenient airports include cheaper fares, fewer delays, and easier ground transport. Logit analysis confirms that leisure travel, traveling with family, and frequent flyer membership significantly affect the choice of a less convenient airport.

La estrategia comercial de Southwest Airlines (SWA) consiste en tarifas bajas y vuelos directos entre ciudades importantes. A fin de minimizar el tiempo del ciclo de vuelo de las aeronaves, SWA prefiere aeropuertos de menor tamaño situados en la periferia de las ciudades, en lugar de aeropuertos de mayor tamaño y más congestionados. Realizamos una encuesta entre los pasajeros que volaban hacia las regiones de Boston-Providence y Baltimore-Washington, que cuentan con varios aeropuertos, a fin de evaluar el número y el tipo de pasajeros que seleccionaron un aeropuerto menos conveniente y la razón de su decisión. Los mapas de los destinos finales ilustran una tendencia opuesta a la teoría de la traffic shadow (preferencia por aeropuertos de mayor tamaño) en favor de los aeropuertos más pequeños en los que sirve SWA. La selección de aeropuertos menos convenientes se debe entre otras cosas a tarifas más económicas, menos demoras y transporte terrestre expedito. El análisis Logit confirma que los viajes de placer, los viajes familiares y las afiliaciones a programas de viajeros frecuentes afectan significativamente la selección de un aeropuerto menos conveniente.

Key Words:

• airport
• hinterland
• hub
• logit analysis
• network
• Southwest Airlines

关键词:

• 机场
• 腹地
• 集线地
• 逻辑分析
• 网络化
• 美国西南航空公司

Palabras clave:

• aeropuerto
• regiones internas
• aeropuertos centrales
• análisis Logit
• red
• Southwest Airlines

Notes

^aServed by Southwest Airlines.

∗We want to thank Breandán Ó hUallacháin of Arizona State University and Dimitris Potoglou of McMaster University for assistance with our logit analysis; Barbara Trapido-Lurie for cartographic help; Jong-Geun Kim for GIS assistance; and Patricia Gober, Lawrence Gesell, and Andrew Goetz for their insightful suggestions. Finally, we would like to thank Albert Stevens and Roberta Morris from Southwest Airlines and Chris Villa from America West Airlines for granting us airport access that helped facilitate our surveys.

¹The number of survey responses for average airfare differs from the total number of surveys because some passengers used frequent-flyer miles and other passengers did not know or recall the price of their tickets.