"Southwest doesn't have to go into these airports, but the question is, why not?" said Robert Mann, president of R.W. Mann & Company Inc., an airline industry analysis and consulting firm in Port Washington, N.Y. "There is a huge pot of revenue that hasn't been tapped. They need the revenue."
The new route means Southwest will go head-to-head with AirTran, which provides nine daily nonstop flights between BWI and Logan, with one-way airfares starting at $59. The two airlines compete on service from Baltimore to several cities, including Las Vegas, Chicago and Los Angeles. Mann predicts the two airlines will have plenty of business on the Boston route because AirTran attracts more business travelers.
For some passengers, choosing between the two airlines may boil down to cost. Southwest's everyday fare will be set at $129 each way, about half what other airlines charge. Southwest also has fewer add-on fees, while AirTran charges a $15 checked bag fee and some seat selection fees.
However, carry-on baggage is less important to the business flier, who might prefer AirTran's two-tier cabin seating, which allots more space to its business class passengers for a $49 upgrade fee on many flights. Southwest offers business select ticketing, which includes several perks, but upgraded seating is not one of them.
"AirTran has a different customer today. They have a two-class operation," Mann said. "They serve many more markets beyond Atlanta than Southwest will serve on a published connecting basis. It will just be a different customer base. AirTran has many more business travelers."
Cheri Parlaman, 34, a public affairs specialist who lives in Dundalk, has avoided Southwest on recent trips to Boston because she didn't want to drive from Manchester or Providence.
"It's problematic now because they don't fly into the major airports," Parlaman said. "We don't want to have to rent a car."
Last time, she flew AirTran, but when she plans her trip to Boston this summer, Parlaman said that she will consider taking Southwest.
"I like Southwest because you get in, you get on the plane, sit down and go," Parlaman said. "I'm not looking for lots of frills. I just want to get there."
Baltimore Sun reporter Meredith Cohn contributed to this report.
