Southwest's first five years in Atlanta: fewer flights, more local fliers

Southwest Airlines’ move to buy out AirTran Airways and enter the Atlanta market sparked hopes among some that the Dallas-based discounter would give hometown giant Delta Air Lines a bigger run for its money.

The reality is that, five years after launching flights, Southwest has significantly fewer flights from Atlanta than AirTran did — 124 daily departures compared with 220 before the Southwest takeover. Its presence keeps some competitive pressure on Delta, but it has not sparked a major dogfight.

“Overall, I don’t think [Southwest] has had as big an impact as everyone expected. It just seems to have been watered down a little bit,” said Chris McGinnis, editor of the TravelSkills.com blog. “The people who were drawn to the low fares — they don’t really see that much difference between Southwest and Delta or any of the majors.”