"St. Louis mayor: Southwest hopes to expand service at Lambert"

Friday, July 18, 2003

St. Louis mayor: Southwest hopes to expand service at Lambert
BY JIM SUHR
The Associated Press


ST. LOUIS - Low-cost air carrier Southwest Airlines is considering expanding
operations at Lambert Airport, smelling an opportunity in American Airlines'
plans to soon halve its departures from St. Louis, city officials said
Friday.

Southwest Chairman Herb Kelleher told Mayor Francis Slay by telephone Friday
the Dallas-based airline was "very interested" in discussing the matter here
next week, said Slay's chief of staff, Jeff Rainford.

Friday's developments came just two days after Fort Worth, Texas-based
American announced it and its affiliated regional carriers would pare its
existing 417 daily departures from Lambert to 207, and in the process shelve
nonstop service to 27 destinations.

"I think the announcement today is an indication that Herb Kelleher has been
waiting in the weeds, and now that that opportunity has come, he's pouncing
on it," Rainford said. "I don't think it's coincidence that two days after a
major announcement by American, he's making a move."

Southwest offers 67 daily flights from Lambert's East Terminal and is the
second-largest airline serving Lambert. The carrier currently offers service
from St. Louis to about half of the 27 cities where American canceled
nonstop service.

Rainford said though Kelleher did not immediately offer specifics on how
many flights or destinations Southwest could add to its St. Louis schedule,
the company's founder "wants to analyze what hole in the market American
left behind."

A message left Friday night at Southwest's Dallas headquarters was not
immediately returned.

American adopted Lambert as a hub with its 2001 purchase of most of the
assets of Trans World Airlines Inc., the bankrupt St. Louis-based airline.
But analysts said Lambert's long-term hub status was never secure, given
that American already had two larger, centrally located hubs in Chicago and
Dallas.

The airline industry has been hit hard by the nation's poor economy and a
decline in air travel that followed the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Just two
weeks ago, American cut 3,100 workers - many of them based in St. Louis.
About half the 20,000 TWA workers who joined American 2 1/2 years ago have
since lost their job.

"For far too long, this region has lived or died with the ups and downs of
the airline industry," Rainford said.

Southwest is the only major U.S. carrier to post a profit every quarter
since the September 2001 terrorist attacks. Slay called the airline's
enhanced interest in Lambert "a good start" to recovering from American's
withdrawal.

"It demonstrates what I've been saying all along - this is an attractive
airport, strong market, quality work force, efficiently operated airport by
every standard of performance," he said.

Still, Rainford cautioned that his boss would move cautiously when
addressing American's pullback.

"The one thing the mayor said is we're not going to be the guy jilted at the
prom and take the first girl that comes along," Rainford said. "We want to
be smart about this. Whatever happens in St. Louis has to make sense.

"We see St. Louis as an opportunity for the airline industry. Will we be
where we were at the height of TWA? No. But could this take some of the
sting out of it? Yes. Will it? That remains to be seen."

Also on Friday, Rainford said, Northwest Airlines told Slay it was adding
two flights to its Lambert schedule - one to Detroit, the other to
Minneapolis.

ON THE NET

American Airlines: http://www.amrcorp.com

Southwest Airlines: http://www.iflyswa.com

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