Southwest Progress Report
Todd Bertka has flown from GSP to Chicago a half dozen times since Southwest Airline's inaugural flight on March 13. "The flights have been mostly full if not completely full and the experience has been both smooth and fun. The additional leg room and free bags are a most welcome change from pre-SWA days flying out of GSP," he says.
As the Vice President of Sales at Greenville Convention and Visitors Bureau, Bertka has seen the effect the arrival of Southwest has had on the Greenville market. "The US Lacrosse Organization specifically gave us bids for 2012, 2013 and 2014 based on the fact that we were awarded Southwest Airlines. We are definitely seeing the direct benefit of having the service here, based on the normal purchasing habits of convention, meeting, and event delegates around country," says Bertka. Southwest's arrival has attracted the attention of meeting and event planners that have the potential to bring thousands of people to Greenville for events and conventions.
Southwest has done a significant amount of advertising for their new destinations. "Greenville hasn't had the financial wherewithal to run an ad campaign in Chicago or Baltimore, so just the upstart of the service here has allowed us to get our name in front of folks," says Bertka.
"From a business standpoint, increased seats and the discounted airfares from key markets allow us to go after pieces of business that otherwise would have said we were too inaccessible or too cost prohibitive to consider," he says.
Debbie Nelson of DNA Creative flew with Southwest Airlines for the first time in March. "We have family in the Baltimore-Washington area so we are excited about the direct flights and the cheap prices out of Greenville," she says. "I had heard many great endorsements for the airline, but our experience certainly confirmed the quality of Southwest's customer service."
Laurel Moffat, Southwest Airlines spokesperson says, "Our President Emeritus Colleen Barrett has always said that we're in the customer service industry, and we just happen to fly airplanes."
Southwest is operating 7 flights a day out of GSP with 137 seats aboard each of its Boeing 737 aircraft. Currently, the airline offers service to Orlando, Houston, Baltimore, Nashville, and Chicago-Midway, and from these cities you can continue flight on to any of the other 71 SWA destinations.
"We couldn't be more thrilled to serve Greenville-Spartanburg as our 70th city. We continue to be pleased with the rate of bookings coming in for GSP. In fact, we have exceeded the number of bookings originally anticipated for this new market," says Moffat.
According to Station Manager, Brian Williams, the airline's current capacity from GSP varies between 77-85 percent depending on the day of the week and holidays. "I can't confirm this statistic," he says, "but an airport official told me that the GSP has seen a 40 percent increase in traffic since Southwest arrived." The airline says they will be monitoring bookings over the next year to look for opportunities to add more service to and from Greenville, though they will not comment on a specific time frame.
"Southwest is new to a lot of people. I think as new passengers try SWA it will be hard to go back to the previous airline that they would normally fly," says Williams.
Originally from West Palm Beach, Florida, Williams has worked for the airline for almost ten years. When the opportunity arose to transfer to Greenville, he and most of his forty fellow employees, approximately 40 percent of which are couples, came to the Upstate sight unseen.
He says he was immediately impressed by Greenville's hospitality. "You rarely experience this type of friendliness in other communities," says Williams.
During opening weekend, over 2,000 people come to the airport to see the 1st Southwest Aircraft land and participate in a plane pull. "That's pretty amazing when that many people come out just to say hi and welcome Southwest to the area," he says.
Diane Wilson, Director of Information Services with Greenville CVB, says the airline's arrival in Greenville has drawn the attention of media in other SWA destination cities. There has already been an increase in coverage of Greenville in those markets.
"We really have become increasingly well known in this region as a leisure getaway destination," she says. In April, The Daily Record in Baltimore ran an insert about beach destinations. For weary beach goers, there was a full page article on Greenville as an alternative destination.
After the exciting SWA kickoff weekend in Greenville, Moffat posted on the Nuts About Southwest blog, "I'm already counting down the days until my next visit to the Upstate. This place certainly has a special place in my heart."