May 29, 2026 – Southwest Airlines is eyeing potential long-haul international flights within the next five years as part of an ongoing effort to provide product offerings “our customers want,” CEO Bob Jordan said.
Speaking May 28 at the Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference, Jordan said the changes the airline has made—including implementing assigned seating and tiered fares—have been positively embraced by passengers, evidenced by a strong first-quarter revenue performance. First-quarter revenue per available seat mile increased 11.2% year over year.
Jordan envisions Southwest potentially operating to eight to 12 long-haul international destinations, which would account for “the vast majority of the places that our customers want to go,” he explained. “So, we don’t have to be Delta, American or United in terms of that huge, wide long-haul network, but through the right destinations we can be highly relevant in our customer base in terms of where they want to go.”
While Jordan cautioned it is too early to discuss specific long-haul international routes, he said “Baltimore would be a natural hopping-off point.” Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI) is Southwest’s largest East Coast airport, where the carrier has a more than 70% market share.
Southwest has traditionally been a point-to-point carrier, and Jordan said offering a high number of nonstop domestic routes continues to be a strength. But he acknowledged the carrier has evolved and connections at airports such as BWI are now an important component of Southwest’s business.
