S.C. gets lower airfare when Southwest Airlines reaches town

When Southwest Airlines comes to town, competing airlines take notice. The near elemental force of change Southwest exerts on the commercial airline sector has been named the “Southwest Effect,” writes USA Today. The force is so powerful that within an hour of announcing new routes into South Carolina, the competition scrambled to lower prices by 30 % or more.

Southwest Airlines comes to town, consumers gain

Within an hour of announcing routes to destinations in South Carolina – Charleston and Greenville-Spartanburg – Southwest Airlines shook up the industry and forced rivals to offer cheaper air travel rates. Now the Southwest Effect has blown in which means that those in the Palmetto State can travel through air for cheaper prices. There came a remark from Charleston’s The Post and Courier. It said, “within an hour of Southwest Airlines’ revealing information of its service launching from Charleston International Airport next year, local airfares plunged to $59 each way to Southwest-bound destinations — however only after March 13.”

More industry for travel agents

A tsunami of savings has took place because Southwest Airlines have made such a bold move, John Powers of Travel Management Group in Charleston said. “All major carriers cut their rates by at least 30 percent,” he said Competitors used to charge up to $228 for one way flights. Now they have had to match Southwest Airlines with $59 flights.

ABC affiliate News 4 of Charleston shared comparable accounts of reduced airfare for flights originating after March 13. One flight from Charleston to Chicago had been $219, however dropped to $99. Even flights with stop-over’s, like one to New York City, went from $400 to $129 one-way. There is an expected decrease in flights from Greenville-Spartanburg also. This is what travel industry experts think will happen.

Articles cited

USA Today

travel.usatoday.com/flights/post/2010/10/southwest-effect-in-south-carolina/128388/1

ymptoms of the Southwest Effect include lower fares

youtube.com/watch?v=bMXNVUHmGU0