=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SFGate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/news/archive/2004/10/28/f= inancial1836EDT0407.DTL --------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday, October 28, 2004 (AP) Southwest CEO says expansion at Chicago Midway is top priority DAVID KOENIG, AP Business Writer (10-28) 15:36 PDT DALLAS (AP) -- The chief executive of Southwest Airlines Co. says his company will expa= nd service at Chicago Midway Airport, where it competes with ATA Airlines, whose parent filed for bankruptcy protection this week. Officials say Southwest also is considering assigning seats on its planes instead of its long-standing first-come, first-served approach but isn't interested in offering in-flight entertainment. In the latest move to roil the airline industry, ATA's parent, Indianapolis-based ATA Holdings Corp., filed for bankruptcy protection Tuesday and sold airport slots and other assets to AirTran Airways Inc. Like Southwest, ATA is a low-cost carrier, and they are the two biggest carriers at Midway. Given high jet fuel prices and cutthroat competition on fares, ATA probably won't be the last U.S. carrier to go bankrupt, Southwest CEO Gary Kelly said. Kelly said Dallas-based Southwest probably wouldn't be interested in ATA= 's planes, which are a larger version of the Boeing 737 than it flies, but might consider bidding for other assets including airport gates. Either way, he said, Southwest plans to add flights at Chicago Midway early next year, he said. "Strategically, I think there is a huge opportunity for Southwest Airlin= es at Midway Airport," Kelly told reporters Thursday. "We're looking for opportunities to grow. This is an obvious one." With about 145 flights a day, Chicago is Southwest's fourth-largest operation -- behind Las Vegas, Phoenix and Baltimore -- and Kelly said Southwest has enough slack at its Midway gates to add about 40 flights a day there. It could negotiate with Chicago officials for more gates, he said, while declining to say whether such talks are already underway. Kelly said Southwest could expand modestly at Chicago and still add more flights at Philadelphia or even add a new city or two next summer. The carrier plans to add 13 more daily Philadelphia flights, bringing its total to 41 a day, beginning Sunday. Kelly said Southwest will be fully using its existing gates but still wants to grow more in Philadelphia, where it competes against US Airways, a unit of financially troubled US Airways Group Inc. Kelly said Southwest is not thinking about offering service at Dallas-Fo= rt Worth International Airport, which would allow it to operate long flights in and out of its home base of Dallas. Unlike most carriers, Southwest does not assign seats. Instead, customers board in groups, with early birds getting first choice. President Colleen Barrett said technological advances make Southwest open to assigned seating. She said, however, that the carrier has no immediate plans to offer it and wouldn't make any change for at least a year. Meanwhile, Kelly said Southwest is no longer considering in-flight entertainment systems, which typically involve things such as individual TVs. He said such systems might cost up to $100 million. "It won't add one dollar to revenue," Kelly said. "It's high-cost. It's not a core need for airline customers." Shares of Southwest rose 55 cents or 3.6 percent, to $15.79, in trading Thursday afternoon on the New York Stock Exchange. On the Net: www.southwest.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2004 AP