Southwest Airlines announced they’ll be launching several new routes across the country as they’ve published their summer schedule for 2018. Expect to see new service from Oakland, San Antonio, and Cancun to name a few of the highlights.

Additionally, Southwest will be pulling out of Flint, Michigan, which it currently serves year round from Chicago–Midway and seasonally from Fort Myers; Orlando; and Tampa with the last day of service on June 6, 2018.

Per Southwest Airlines,

Southwest Airlines Co. is looking forward to summer 2018 as autumn sets in across the U.S. The airline today published its flight schedule through Aug. 6, 2018. The schedule includes new options for California Customers who use Oakland International Airport, and Texas travelers, as well as new gateways to Cancun. Flights are on sale now at Southwest.com.

The carrier has made the difficult decision to exit Flint, Mich. (FNT), with the last day of service on June 6, 2018. There will be no Customer impact with today’s decision as tickets won’t be available for sale past the last day of service. However, Southwest remains committed to Michigan with a wide portfolio of destinations available from Detroit and Grand Rapids. Southwest’s 14 FNT Employees will be offered positions elsewhere within the Company.

Beginning June 7, 2018, the carrier will resume daily service in the following seasonal markets:

Denver and Charleston, S.C.
Chicago and San Juan, Puerto Rico
Omaha and Orlando

Beginning June 9, 2018, the carrier will offer new seasonal service on Saturdays between:

Boise and Dallas
Denver and Panama City, Fla.
Tulsa and Orlando

When it comes to the Caribbean, Southwest also announced additional service between Baltimore and Nassau, Bahamas. Cancun will see additional growth with seasonal weekly service from both Pittsburgh and Raleigh-Durham to Cancun. Pending government approval, the airline plans to launch weekly service from Houston to Grand Cayman on June 9, 2018.

On the domestic front, the airline is adding new service from San Antonio to Ft. Lauderdale and Oakland as well as from Oakland to Indianapolis; Minneapolis; and Orlando.

Bottom Line

I’m thrilled to see that Southwest is adding more service down to the Caribbean as well as some new domestic routes as well! If you’re looking to redeem Rapid Rewards points for these flights, remember Southwest is a transfer partner of Chase Ultimate Rewards if you need to transfer over some miles.

What are your thoughts on these latest route announcements from Southwest?