Green added that he sees an opportunity for about 50 red-eye flights a day on Southwest Airlines.
“Red eye,” named for the appearance in the eyes of travelers who haven't slept through the night, is widespread on most major airlines. Travelers often book cheaper fares than daytime flights. Travelers from the West Coast also have the advantage of being able to leave after work and arrive on the East Coast in time for the next day's breakfast meeting.
And the reason airlines prefer night flights is because they can generate more revenue from planes that would otherwise wait at the airport until the next morning.
On any random Thursday in March, nearly all U.S. airlines had at least 26 overnight flights departing after 9 p.m. at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas, according to data from aviation analytics firm Cirium Dio. was. These flights typically take more than four hours and connect Sin City with cities such as Atlanta, Boston, New York, and Washington, DC.
Southwest catches up with Redeyes
Southwest Airlines is beloved by travelers for its eccentricities, including all-economy seating and free checked baggage. Not many people know that we are at the forefront of travel technology. Remember those plastic boarding cards you picked up at the gate long into the 2000s? Or the Great Recession of 2022?
For most of its more than 50 years of operation, Southwest Airlines was unable to offer more than daytime flights within the United States due to limitations in its reservation system. That changed in 2014 with the introduction of a new state-of-the-art reservation system from airline IT provider Amadeus and the start of international flights. Night flight became possible in 2017 when this platform was fully adopted.
It took another six years for Southwest Airlines to start selling tickets for overnight connections last July.
Southwest Airlines CEO Robert Jordan in November described the airline's potential for overnight flights as the latest “evolution” of the airline's business model.
Like most airlines, Southwest Airlines is in trouble. Problems in the aviation supply chain have caused many of the new planes ordered from Boeing Co. to be years behind schedule. Costs are also rising thanks to inflation and new post-pandemic collective agreements.
Boeing's problems are forcing Southwest Airlines to cut back on its growth plans this year. Instead of 79 new 737 Max aircraft, only about 46 will be needed.
“We have to be absolutely focused on increasing efficiency,” Green said, adding that the airline wants to grow without “increasing its cost structure.”
Savanti Sis, an aviation analyst at investment bank Raymond James, said in an email that adding redeye flights could help Southwest Airlines grow at a lower cost than buying new planes.
“In the Hawaii and mainland U.S. markets, the Red Eye flight capability should allow for more connections, or simply better schedules, than Southwest Airlines can currently offer,” she added.
That's good news for many loyal Southwest travelers who stay in Dallas or Kansas City, for example, whose only option to fly home from Hawaii is to lose an entire day of travel time.
Similarly, more flights from Las Vegas could delay fare increases. The average domestic U.S. airfare from the city, excluding additional fees such as checked baggage and seat assignments, rose 12% to $264.38 in the third quarter of last year compared to 2019, according to data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Ta. Airfares, adjusted for inflation, fell 6%.
“Southwest Airlines' high volume of redeye flights will bring additional capacity to the already crowded Las Vegas market,” said Seth Miller, aviation analyst and editor of the website PaxEx.Aero. “Passengers should benefit by expanding their choice of destinations and keeping fares competitive.”
