Explored: Southwest’s 6 Current Routes From Bradley International

Last week, American low-cost carrier Southwest Airlinescelebrated 25 years of service to Bradley International Airport. When the airline began serving the airport, the huge difference in prices forced competing airlines to drop their prices. This month, the airline has nearly 700 flights scheduled to the Connecticut airport on six routes.

Bradley is the second-largest airport in New England. It is located in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, and serves the city of Hartford, as well as passengers in western Massachusetts. The airport’s history dates back to World War II when it was used as a military air base.

Photo: Bradley International Airport

The airport got its name after Second Lieutenant Eugene M. Bradley died during a routine training exercise. In 1946, the airport’s operations were turned back over to the state. One year later, commercial operations began.

Current Southwest operations

As mentioned above, Southwest has operated flights to Bradley for 25 years. According to data from Cirium, an aviation analytics firm, Southwest has nearly 700 flights scheduled at Bradley this month. Its seat offering totals 111,698. Its cities served from the airport are:

• Nashville
• Baltimore
• Denver
• Orlando
• Chicago (Midway)
• Tampa

Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI) has the most Southwest flights this month from Bradley. Although Baltimore is the shortest flight Southwest has from the Connecticut airport at 283 miles, it is the busiest. There are more than 280 roundtrip flights, breaking down to five daily flights almost every day in November.

Photo: Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport

For service from Bradley to Baltimore/Washington, Southwest deploys all three of its Boeing 737 variants, the -700, -800, and MAX 8. The -700s have 143 seats, while the -800 and MAX 8s have 175.

The second-busiest Southwest route is to Orlando International Airport (MCO), the theme park capital of the world. The flight to Orlando is nearly four times longer than the flight to Baltimore and is served twice daily. Southwest also deploys all three variants of its 737s to Orlando.

At number three is the flight to Chicago Midway International Airport (MDW). Southwest connects Bradley to Chicago 13 times weekly, twice daily, except for Sundays. The 777-mile route has 56 flights scheduled from Bradley and 57 in the opposite direction.

Tampa International Airport (TPA), the second Florida airport served from Bradley, has daily flights. On the last day of the month, Southwest has three roundtrips. The 1,111-mile route is served by all three variants of the 737s.

Nashville International Airport (BNA), one of Southwest’s focus cities, has daily flights from Bradley. Though all three 737 variants are scheduled to operate flights, the -700 is scheduled for a majority of those, then the MAX 8, while the -800 is only scheduled for two flights.

The only route not served daily is Denver International Airport (DEN). Data shows that Southwest has four flights to the Mile High City this week and five flights next week and for the rest of the month. This route is primarily operated by the 737-700, but there are a few flights on the -800 and MAX 8.

Previous operations

Data shows that Southwest had more operations in the past. For example, November 2004 had 1,252 flights. At the time, the airline connected Bradley International Airport to seven cities, Nashville, Baltimore, Las Vegas, Orlando, Chicago (Midway), Philadelphia, and Tampa. By August 2005, Southwest added more flights and had nearly 200,000 seats that month.

Fast forward to 2015 and Southwest was operating 1,000+ monthly flights, occasionally dropping below that. By the time the COVID-19 pandemic came around, Southwest had under 800 monthly flights during the fall, and by September 2020 dropped to 302 flights. Since then, the airline has not returned to its pre-pandemic numbers.

Current operations on all airlines

Today, Southwest is one of ten airlines operating at Bradley. According to Cirium, there are 4,564 roundtrip flights scheduled in November. American Airlines has the largest market share at Bradley, with 1,079 flights and 132,178 seats. American servers the following cities:

• Washington D.C.
• Chicago
• Philadelphia
• Miami
• Dallas
• Charlotte

The airline’s busiest route is to Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT), with an average of four daily roundtrips. Though Philadelphia is less than 200 miles away by plane, American serves the Pennsylvania capital up to three times daily in November. Most flights are mainline operations, but Envoy Air, PSA Airlines, Piedmont Airlines, and Republic Airline also operate on American’s behalf.

Photo: Wirestock Creators | Shutterstock

Delta Air Lines is the second-busiest airline at the airport, with 727 roundtrip flights and more than 117,000 seats. From Bradley, the airline serves its hubs at Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL), Minneapolis Saint Paul International Airport (MSP), and Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW). Delta’s busiest route is to Atlanta, which it serves five times daily on its Airbus A319s, A320s, A321s, Boeing 737-900ERs, and Boeing 757.

Southwest is the third-busiest airline at the Connecticut airport but is barely ahead of JetBlue in terms of the number of flights. JetBlue does have a higher seat offering, 114,842, compared to Southwest’s 111,698. JetBlue connects Bradley to six destinations, five of which are in Florida, and the sixth is in the Caribbean.

The list of JetBlue destinations is below:

• Fort Lauderdale
• Orlando
• Palm Beach
• Fort Myers
• San Juan (Puerto Rico)
• Tampa

Overall, the busiest routes from Bradley International Airport are:

Source: Simple Flying