St. Louis mayor says Southwest may expand service at Lambert

ST. LOUIS -- Low-cost air carrier Southwest Airlines is considering expanding operations at Lambert Airport, smelling an opportunity in American Airlines' plans to soon halve its departures from the city, city officials said Friday.

Southwest chairman Herb Kelleher told Mayor Francis Slay by telephone Friday the Dallas-based airline was "very interested" in discussing the matter here next week, said Slay's chief of staff, Jeff Rainford.

Friday's developments came just two days after Fort Worth, Texas-based American announced it and its affiliated regional carriers would pare its existing 417 daily departures from Lambert to 207, and in the process shelve nonstop service to 27 destinations.

"I think the announcement today is an indication that Herb Kelleher has been waiting in the weeds, and now that that opportunity has come, he's pouncing on it," Rainford said. "I don't think it's coincidence that two days after a major announcement by American, he's making a move."

Southwest offers 67 daily flights from Lambert's East Terminal and is the second-largest airline serving Lambert. The carrier currently offers service from St. Louis to about half of the 27 cities where American canceled nonstop service.

No specifics yet

Rainford said though Kelleher did not immediately offer specifics on how many flights or destinations Southwest could add to its St. Louis schedule, the company's founder "wants to analyze what hole in the market American left behind."

A message left Friday night at Southwest's Dallas headquarters was not immediately returned.

American adopted Lambert as a hub with its 2001 purchase of most of the assets of Trans World Airlines Inc., the bankrupt St. Louis-based airline. But analysts said Lambert's long-term hub status was never secure, given that American already had two larger, centrally located hubs in Chicago and Dallas.

The airline industry has been hit hard by the nation's poor economy and a decline in air travel that followed the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Just two weeks ago, American cut 3,100 workers -- many of them based in St. Louis. About half the 20,000 TWA workers who joined American 2 1/2 years ago have since lost their jobs.

"For far too long, this region has lived or died with the ups and downs of the airline industry," Rainford said.

Southwest is the only major U.S. carrier to post a profit every quarter since the September 2001 terrorist attacks. Slay called the airline's enhanced interest in Lambert "a good start" to recovering from American's withdrawal.

"It demonstrates what I've been saying all along -- this is an attractive airport, strong market, quality work force, efficiently operated airport by every standard of performance," he said.

Still, Rainford cautioned that his boss would move cautiously when addressing American's pullback.

"The one thing the mayor said is we're not going to be the guy jilted at the prom and take the first girl that comes along," Rainford said. "We want to be smart about this. Whatever happens in St. Louis has to make sense.

"We see St. Louis as an opportunity for the airline industry. Will we be where we were at the height of TWA? No. But could this take some of the sting out of it? Yes. Will it? That remains to be seen."

Also on Friday, Rainford said, Northwest Airlines told Slay it was adding two flights to its Lambert schedule -- one to Detroit, the other to Minneapolis.

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On the Net:

American Airlines: http://www.amrcorp.com

Southwest Airlines: http://www.iflyswa.com