Just 70 Nautical Miles: Introducing Southwest Airlines' New 2nd Short Route

On August 14, Southwest announced at least 20 routes and a new city: Knoxville. They are outlined later in the article. Three of them stand out for being particularly short: Milwaukee-Chicago Midway, Knoxville-Nashville, and Tucson-Phoenix. They exist more or less entirely for transit traffic over what are among the evolving carrier’s busiest hubs-not-hubs.

At just 70 nautical miles (120 km) each way, Milwaukee to Chicago Midway is Southwest’s new second-shortest route system-wide. Only Colorado Springs-Denver covers less distance, while Kahului-Kona is marginally longer. Earlier in August, the airline inaugurated nine routes in two days, some of which covered very little ground.

Southwest’s New 2nd Shortest Route

The very short link from Milwaukee to Midway has previously been served. For example, the US Department of Transportation indicates that it was once in the hands of Midway Connection, Chicago Express, and ATA Connection (operated by Chicago Express). They served it years ago.

In 2009, Southwest described Milwaukee as “Chicago’s third airport.” It is now its turn to fly between the two airports, with the route’s block time as low as 45 minutes. Its brand-new service will begin on March 5. Twice-daily flights will leave Milwaukee in the early morning and late afternoon. They will depart from Midway in mid-morning and late evening.

In the 12 months to May 2025, the DOT shows that about 13 local passengers flew between Milwaukee and Chicago (O’Hare/Midway) each day. Southwest’s twice-daily frequency is, of course, for onward connectivity over Midway. According to Cirium Diio data, Midway is the airline’s fourth-busiest airport based on daily aircraft movements. Until the year’s end, it has an average of 382 daily takeoffs/landings, with flights to about 80 destinations.

Hang On: What About The Other Routes?

The additions are shown on the map and listed below, all of which will begin in the first week of March. Knoxville is a brand-new city in its network. Its arrival means Southwest will fly to three Tennessee cities for the first time, joining Nashville (its seventh most-served airport and essential for connections) and Memphis.

Schedule analysis shows that half of the routes have previously seen the carrier’s jets. They include all seven of its coming links from San Diego, each of which will compete with Alaska Airlines. Southwest sensed opportunities or feels threatened.

Beyond Milwaukee-Midway, the additions include multiple other short routes—just not as short. Among others, they include the return of Dallas Love to Oklahoma City, the intra-state link from Knoxville to Nashville (in May, Allegiant added flights between Knoxville and Memphis), and Phoenix to Tucson. They’ll revolve around transit passengers, although Oklahoma City-Dallas has 80 local passengers a day.

This Is Southwest’s Shortest Route

Served since March 2021, Colorado Springs-Denver is the airline’s shortest link. It covers 63 nautical miles (km) each way, marginally less than Milwaukee-Midway will. It has three to four daily services to Denver, which is its busiest airport, with an average of 494 daily movements.

In the year to March 2025, the DOT indicates that Southwest carried 290,000 round-trip passengers and filled 75% of seats. Unsurprisingly, the source shows that virtually everyone (more than 99%) connected to another flight in Denver. More people flew from Colorado Springs to Orlando via Denver than anywhere else.

IATA Code

WN

ICAO Code

SWA

Hub(s)

Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, Dallas Love Field, Denver International Airport, Harry Reid International Airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Houston Hobby Airport, Los Angeles International Airport, Midway International Airport, Oakland International Airport, Orlando International Airport, Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport

Year Founded

1967