Southwest exec: Pandemic altered plans, accelerated expansion

Southwest Airlines launched Hawaii service in 2019 with the intent to expand in 2020, but as a result of the health crisis the airline pivoted into other, unplanned, expansions of its network, said Andrew Watterson, Southwest’s executive vice president and chief commercial officer. “We have announced 18 new cities, which is probably almost a decade’s worth of new cities, in one year,” Watterson said.