Southwest Airlines To Expand Service To Chicago's O'Hare

CHICAGO — Southwest Airlines announced plans on Monday to expand its service to Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, according to a news release from the company.

Southwest currently employees more than 4,800 workers at Midway International Airport — one of the airlines the busiest hubs, the company says — and that service is not expected to change. Service to O'Hare is expected to begin in the first half of next year, but schedules, fares and other details weren't available.

Southwest also announced plans to expand service to Huston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport.

"Southwest owes decades of success to our Employees and Customers who have supported our business in Chicago and Houston," said CEO Gary Kelly in a statement. "Today's announcement furthers our commitment to both cities as we add service to share Southwest's value and Hospitality with more leisure and business travelers."

The announcement comes as two other airlines, American and United, announced plans earlier this month to furlough 32,000 employees in Chicago and across the country due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the airline industry and the inability of Congress and the Trump administration to hammer out another relief deal.

Over the summer, Kelly committed to no furloughs or layoffs for Southwest employees through the end of the year, slashing the pay of the company's senior executives by 20 percent and cutting his own salary to zero, according to the Dallas Business Journal.

The company is currently in negotiations with union leaders to work out what happens come January if no deal is reached in Washington.

Southwest said in its news release that the planned expansion could change depending, among other things, on "the Company's ability to obtain necessary government approvals and the impact of governmental regulations and other governmental actions related to the Company's operations" and "the extent of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on overall demand for air travel and the Company's related business plans and decisions."