Will Southwest Airlines Be Landing in Sioux Falls Soon?

The Sioux Falls Regional Airport currently has two of the big boys on the block touching down daily, that would be United and Delta. One of the major airlines is noticeably absent, Southwest. That could be changing within a few years.

KSFY TV is reporting, that executive director of the Sioux Falls Airport, Dan Letellier has been working with Southwest Airlines for some time to get the company to provide service to Sioux Falls. The problem as of right now, Sioux Falls doesn't quite have the population base to support them.

Letellier told KSFY, "Up until the last couple of years, they didn't fly into any city with fewer than 10 flights a day. That's over 1,600 seats per day. That equals all of our seats combined right now." At the present time, the Sioux Falls Airport sees between 1,600 and 1,700 passengers per day.

KSFY reports that over the next couple of years, Southwest will be in the process of switching out old planes with new ones. Once that is complete, Letellier is hopeful they'll start looking for some opportunities in markets they currently don't serve. Another thing that might help Sioux Falls cause is the fact that Southwest has also changed some of its labor agreements, which could improve the chances of Southwest landing in a city like Sioux Falls in the future.

According to KSFY, Southwest is testing out three flights per day in Des Moines, Iowa right now. Letellier is hoping that works out well for them, as it might convince Southwest to fly the friendly skies into Sioux Falls a few times each day down the road.

Until then, it looks like Southwest fans will probably want to put their patience pants on, buckle up, and return their tray tables to there upright position, because as of right now, Sioux Falls, likely won't see Southwest Airlines for at least another couple of years.

Source: KSFY TV

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