Southwest Helps Fill Flight Void with New Routes to Vegas After Spirit Shutdown

^{Southwest Airlines continues to fly high, with even more flights planned to Las Vegas, making it the largest carrier at Harry Reid International Airport. (Photo: Markus Mainka / Alamy)}

LAS VEGAS – When Spirit Airlines shut down operations on May 2, the sudden move impacted thousands of passengers and employees nationwide. But many of the passengers were traveling to or from Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) in Las Vegas, and nearly 1,000 of the Spirit employees called Sin City home, making it a local story.

Fortunately, Southwest Airlines was one of Spirit’s former competitors that stepped up in more ways than one almost immediately. Not only has Southwest increased flights to and from LAS, but the company’s Talent Acquisition Team has also publicly reached out to Spirit employees who lost their jobs and benefits, including 999 located in Vegas.

More Southwest Flights Not a Coincidence

In a press release published on Monday, Southwest announced plans for new nonstop service routes between LAS and 11 cities through March 2027, including Boston, Miami, and Philadelphia. The company will also add more flights between Vegas and 15 cities across the country over that same timeframe.

While Elliott Investment Management was criticized for changing some of Southwest’s policies after taking a major stake in the company two years ago, increasing flights was always part of the plan to fuel growth in the airline space, regardless of Spirit's fate.

“The Elliott group has wanted to make changes in order for the airline to grow,” said Jason Thompson, a Las Vegas-based Southwest flight attendant who has worked with the company for 20 years. “Spirit closing didn’t have any effect on their decisions to add nonstops to the Las Vegas flight schedule. It was pre-planned prior to Spirit ceasing operations.”

Thompson added, “Now that Spirit has folded, all the airlines will be making some changes to their flight schedules to pick up the slack in those cities.” He said the additional flights for the existing 15 cities already serviced are possibly related to Spirit, though, because “all of the airlines are going to take a little of (Spirit’s) whole flight schedule over time.”

Spirit’s Staffing Loss is Southwest’s Gain

As mentioned earlier, Southwest has provided online support to former Spirit employees and hopes they will soon find their way to a dedicated career resources page through a recruitment campaign appropriately named “Standing with Spirit.” The page invites them to apply for job opportunities, specifically noting that new roles are coming soon.

“SWA has posted listings of positions they have available in Las Vegas and made it public to encourage the Spirit employees to apply,” Thompson told Casinos.com.

Potential new additions to Southwest’s staff should only help continue to grow the company even more. Thompson said he appreciates their long-term vision to become an even bigger player in the airline industry overall, in addition to being the largest carrier in Vegas.

“I believe the path is set for big things to come in the present and the future,” Thompson said. “I feel the stability of the company is in a great place right now and again set up for the future. The company has positioned itself well in the market.”