Throughout the past few months, Southwest Airlines has announced many changes to its core business. While some have been met with disdain from loyal passengers, including the removal of free checked bags for everyone, others have opened the doors for the airline’s customers to explore more of the world with a single ticket.
The development, announced during its Investor Day in September 2024, including a teaser of a partnership with Icelandair, which was confirmed in January, Southwest Airlines’ decision to introduce additional complexity into its operations would, according to its executives, add more destinations to its network and drive additional revenues. Simple Flying explores Southwest Airlines’ currently announced partners and where travelers can fly to when connecting at airports in the United States.
China Airlines Partners With Southwest Airlines
During the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Annual General Meeting (AGM) on June 2, where several other potential partnerships, including the four-way tie-up between Air France-KLM, Delta Air Lines, IndiGo, and Virgin Atlantic, were announced, Southwest Airlines and China Airlines unveiled that they are exploring a potential interline agreement. The former became an IATA member just this year, after successfully completing the association’s IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) in January.
While the language between the two airlines’ statements had a bit of a contrast, namely that Southwest Airlines disclosed that the two carriers “are in discussions to create an interline partnership in early 2026,” while China Airlines’ statement read that “travelers from […] the US can now enjoy seamless journeys to top destinations throughout Asia,” the US-based carrier stated that the first tickets should go on sale “later this year.”
Andrew Watterson, the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Southwest Airlines, said that the airline is on a journey to bring more choices to its customers, with the collaboration with China Airlines enabling seamless transpacific journeys across the Southwest Airlines network, furthering the carrier’s reach. China Airlines’ statement highlighted that the interline partnership will focus on providing connectivity through its four gateways in the US, enabling passengers to book their journeys on a single ticket. Watterson added that:
“As the largest carrier of domestic Passengers in the United States, we also carry more people to, from, and within California than any other airline, and expect Southwest Customers could benefit immediately from having access to connections overseas through China Airlines.”
Southwest And Icelandair Partnership Already On Sale
With China Airlines covering transpacific flights and onward connections to Southeast Asia, including popular tourist destinations with little-to-none direct services from/to the US, Southwest Airlines first partnered with Icelandair to cover transatlantic routes and connections from/to Europe. The partnership with the Icelandic airline, first teased during the Southwest Airlines’ Investor Day in September 2024, was officially unveiled on January 16, just a day before the airline passed the IOSA process, which was a “key step toward potential new partnerships.”
In January, Ryan Green, the Chief Transformation Officer (CTO) of Southwest Airlines, who left the company on April 1, with Green being the executive who disclosed during the September 2024 Investor Day that removing free checked bag benefits would result in a net loss in revenue, said that beyond the ability to offer each other’s passengers access to new destinations, Southwest Airlines was grateful that Icelandair has guided the airline “by their expertise and best practices in building our program.”
Similar to the agreement with China Airlines, this is an interline partnership enabling customers to book tickets on connecting services between the two airlines. The first three airports where the two carriers’ customers could enjoy the benefits were unveiled as Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI), Denver International Airport (DEN), and Nashville International Airport (BNA).
Icelandair Partnership Taking Off
On February 14, Southwest Airlines announced that its partnership with Icelandair officially took off through Baltimore/Washington International the day prior. “This means that Customers can book itineraries through Icelandair’s website and third-party channels that include travel on both carriers,” it said, adding that later in 2025, Denver and Nashville will be added to the list of shared gateways and that during the year, it would announced at least one more partner airline.
When Southwest Airlines and China Airlines announced their intentions to form an interline partnership – or, if you were to judge by the latter’s statement, the pair already formed one – the US-based carrier said that on July 14, customers will also be able to book Icelandair interline flights from/to Orlando International Airport (MCO), Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT), and Raleigh–Durham International Airport (RDU).
According to data from the aviation analytics company Cirium’s Diio Mi airline planning tool, in July, Icelandair has scheduled 146 weekly departures from Reykjavik Keflavik International Airport (KEF) to 15 destinations in the US, including 38 weekly departures from the Icelandic city to the six airports where the interline agreement with Southwest Airlines is available.
Cirium’s Diio Mi also showed that from the six airports in the US, Southwest Airlines has a total of 7,266 weekly departures in July, or 21.2% of its total weekly departures from the US during the month. The figure includes direct and one-stop itineraries, with Southwest Airlines’ total weekly departures from the US, including on international flights, in July being 34,262. However, Southwest Airlines also has a presence at other airports that are served by Icelandair. This includes over 100 weekly departures from Boston Logan International Airport (BOS), Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD), Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP), Portland International Airport (PDX), and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA), with the airline also scheduling 98 weekly departures from Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW).
In general, Baltimore/Washington International, Denver, Nashville, and Orlando are some of the largest airports in the carrier’s network, with the airline scheduling over 1,000 weekly departures from the quartet, including 2,311 weekly takeoffs from Denver in July, per Cirium’s Diio Mi. Connections are plentiful for Icelandair’s customers. For example, flight FI673, which is scheduled to land in Denver at 12:30 local time (UTC -6), enables customers to potentially transfer onto connecting flights within the US. According to the travel company OAG, the typical international to domestic minimum connection time (MCT) is around 90 minutes.
Cirium’s Diio Mi showed that, for example, on July 4, after landing in Denver at 12:30 and with an MCT of 90 minutes and a maximum connection time of 720 minutes, or 12 hours, Icelandair’s customers can connect to 109 flights, which can include several departures to the same airport, such as to Las Vegas Harry Reid International Airport (LAS), with flights being scheduled to depart at 14:05, 15:55, and 19:20. Potential connection destinations from Denver on July 4 are displayed below, to illustrate the potential benefits of the interline partnership.
Potential China Airlines And Southwest Airlines Interline Partnership Routes
Presumably, details have yet to be finalized between China Airlines and Southwest Airlines about their interline partnership. Still, the former’s statement outlined that customers could connect from/to flights from four of its West Coast gateways in the US, namely Ontario International Airport (ONT), Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), San Francisco International Airport (SFO), and Seattle-Tacoma.
While Southwest Airlines has yet to file its schedules beyond January 2026, which is possibly the worst month in terms of demand for air travel following the Christmas holiday period, looking at schedules for June 2025, for example, showed that the airline has 1,313 weekly departures from the four airports. The largest presence is from Los Angeles, where the airline has 589 takeoffs per week during the month.
Cirium’s Diio Mi showed that in June, China Airlines has five weekly flights from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport (TPE) to Seattle-Tacoma, daily flights to Ontario, California, the US, and San Francisco, and ten weekly flights to Los Angeles. The flights arrive on the West Coast of the US between 13:55 and 19:55 local time (UTC -7). Looking at Southwest Airlines’ departures from the quartet of airports, including the same minimum and maximum connection times – 90 minutes and 12 hours, respectively – China Airlines customers will have plenty of opportunities to board Southwest Airlines flights. For example, on June 13, with an arrival time of 13:55 in Los Angeles, the Taiwanese carrier’s passengers can hop onto 27 flights on 15 unique routes, with the routes being displayed below. If the China Airlines flight arrives at 20:45 on the same day, travelers could potentially connect to 25 flights on 20 unique routes.
Partenariats interline: Explorer les réseaux de Southwest Airlines, China Airlines et Icelandair aux États-Unis
Au cours des derniers mois, Southwest Airlines a annoncé de nombreux changements dans son métier principal. Alors que certains ont été accueillis par le dédain de fidèles passagers, y compris la suppression des sacs à carreaux gratuits pour tout le monde, d’autres ont ouvert les portes aux clients de la compagnie aérienne pour explorer davantage le monde avec un seul billet.
Le développement, annoncé lors de sa journée des investisseurs en septembre 2024, notamment un teaser d’un partenariat avec Icelandair, qui a été confirmé en janvier, la décision de Southwest Airlines d’introduire une complexité supplémentaire dans ses opérations serait, selon ses dirigeants, ajouterait plus de destinations à son réseau et de générer des revenus supplémentaires. Simple Flying explore les partenaires actuellement annoncés de Southwest Airlines et où les voyageurs peuvent voler lors de la connexion dans les aéroports des États-Unis.
China Airlines s’associe à Southwest Airlines
Au cours de l’Assemblée générale annuelle de l’International Air Transport Association (IATA) (AGM) le 2 juin, où plusieurs autres partenariats potentiels, notamment le lien à quatre entre Air France-KLM, Delta Air Lines, Indigo et Virgin Atlantic, ont été annoncés, Southwest Airlines et China Airlines ont été dévoués pour explorer un accord d’intime potentiel. Le premier est devenu membre de l’IATA cette année, après avoir terminé avec succès l’audit de sécurité opérationnelle de l’Association (IOSA) en janvier.
Alors que la langue entre les déclarations des deux compagnies aériennes avait un peu de contraste, à savoir que Southwest Airlines a révélé que les deux transporteurs «sont en discussion pour créer un partenariat interline au début de 2026», tandis que la déclaration des compagnies aériennes de China se lit
Andrew Watterson, directeur de l’exploitation (COO) de Southwest Airlines, a déclaré que la compagnie aérienne est en voyage pour apporter plus de choix à ses clients, avec la collaboration avec China Airlines permettant des voyages transpacifiques transparents à travers le Network Southwest Airlines, favorisant la portée du transporteur. La déclaration de China Airlines a souligné que le partenariat interline se concentrera sur la connectivité à travers ses quatre passerelles aux États-Unis, permettant aux passagers de réserver leurs voyages sur un seul billet. Watterson a ajouté que:
«En tant que plus grand transporteur de passagers nationaux aux États-Unis, nous transportons également plus de personnes vers, de et en Californie que toute autre compagnie aérienne, et nous nous attendons à ce que les clients du sud-ouest puissent bénéficier immédiatement d’avoir accès à des connexions à l’étranger à travers les compagnies aériennes de Chine.»
Southwest et Icelandair Partnership déjà en vente
Avec China Airlines couvrant les vols transpacifiques et les connexions vers l’Asie du Sud-Est, y compris les destinations touristiques populaires avec des services directs peu ou rien de / vers les États-Unis, Southwest Airlines s’est associée pour la première fois à Icelandair pour couvrir les itinéraires transatlantiques et les connexions de / vers l’Europe. Le partenariat avec la compagnie aérienne islandaise, taquiné pour la première fois lors de la Journée des investisseurs des compagnies aériennes de Southwest en septembre 2024, a été officiellement dévoilée le 16 janvier, juste un jour avant que la compagnie aérienne ne passe le processus de l’iOSA, qui était une «étape clé vers les nouveaux partenariats potentiels».
En janvier, Ryan Green, le directeur de la transformation (CTO) de Southwest Airlines, qui a quitté la société le 1er avril, Green étant l’exécutif qui a révélé pendant la journée des investisseurs de septembre 2024 que la suppression des passagers de l’absence de sac Pratiques dans la construction de notre programme. »
Semblable à l’accord avec China Airlines, il s’agit d’un partenariat interline permettant aux clients de réserver des billets sur les services de connexion entre les deux compagnies aériennes. Les trois premiers aéroports où les clients des deux transporteurs pouvaient profiter des avantages ont été dévoilés sous le nom de Baltimore / Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI), Denver International Airport (DEN) et Nashville International Airport (BNA).
Partenariat Icelandair Décoloration
Le 14 février, Southwest Airlines a annoncé que son partenariat avecIcelandair a officiellement décollé par Baltimore / Washington International la veille. “Cela signifie que les clients peuvent réserver des itinéraires via le site Web d’Icelandair et les canaux tiers qui incluent des voyages sur les deux opérateurs”, a-t-il déclaré, ajoutant que plus tard en 2025, Denver et Nashville seront ajoutés à la liste des passerelles partagées et que au cours de l’année, il annoncerait au moins une autre compagnie aérienne partenaire.
Lorsque Southwest Airlines et China Airlines ont annoncé leur intention de former un partenariat interline – ou, si vous deviez juger par la déclaration de ce dernier, la paire en formait déjà une – le U
