=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/c/a/2007/08/28/BUA1RQ7B5.= DTL --------------------------------------------------------------------- Tuesday, August 28, 2007 (SF Chronicle) Southwest returns to SFO after six-year absence David Armstrong, Chronicle Staff Writer (08-27) 14:47 PDT SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT -- Southwest Airlines returned to San Francisco International Airport after a six-year absence with 18 daily flights and a celebration that drew Southwest CEO Gary Kelly and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom on Monday. "We welcome Southwest back to this side of the bay," Newsom said. "With Southwest Airlines now flying out of all three Bay Area airports, passengers can and should use the airport nearest their homes. That's a big win for passengers and for the environment." Southwest pulled out of San Francisco in March 2001, citing difficulty getting its flights turned around and airborne on schedule and high airport fees. On Monday, airline officials said new technology has helped ease the delay situation, and SFO has slashed the fees it charges airlines by 30 percent. Southwest also announced that it will begin flying between SFO and Los Angeles International Airport on Nov. 4, initially offering eight flights a day. Introductory flights between SFO and LAX will begin at $39 one-way before fees and taxes, with a 21-day advance purchase. "Southwest is in the low-fare business - we invented it and we will continue to offer the consistently lowest fare in the air," Kelly said. Southwest already is the dominant carrier at Mineta San Jose Internation= al Airport and at Oakland International Airport. The Oakland facility has grown dramatically in recent years, thanks mainly to its success in wooing low-fare carriers. Oakland also recently gained service from Columbus, Ohio's, Skybus, a startup low-fare carrier. The return of Southwest to SFO, the Bay Area's biggest airport and the dominant gateway for long-haul international travel to Asia and Europe, rounds out a big year for SFO, which struggled after the Sept. 11 terror attacks and the dot-com implosion. Discounter JetBlue Airways commenced service at SFO in May. Early this month, Virgin America, a Burlingame startup that survived several years of pre-flight scrutiny by federal regulators, won its wings and launched service between SFO and LAX and New York's John F. Kennedy Airport. Virgin America plans to begin flying to Washington Dulles airport Sept. 26 and Las Vegas Oct. 10. Low-fare carriers have transformed domestic travel in the United States = by undercutting major hub-and-spoke network carriers on fares. San Francisco attracted several successful smaller discount carriers such as Spirit and Frontier, but lost struggling ATA and Independence Air, which went out of business in 2006. With Southwest, SFO landed the category leader. Southwest began service between SFO and Chicago Midway (three flights daily), San Diego (eight daily), Las Vegas (seven daily) with its Monday kickoff. The infusion of service is helping drive major expansion projects at Bay Area airports. San Jose and Oakland are spending hundreds of millions of dollars each to expand and upgrade their facilities, and the return of passenger traffic to pre-2001 levels is helping SFO ready its long-planned renovation of the shuttered former international terminal, which will become SFO's third terminal for domestic flights. Daily flights to/from SFO -- Chicago: 3 -- Las Vegas: 7 -- San Diego: 8 -- Los Angeles (as of Nov. 4): 8 E-mail David Armstrong at davidarmstrong@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx --------------= -------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2007 SF Chronicle <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> If you wish to unsubscribe from the AIRLINE List, please send an E-mail to: "listserv@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx". Within the body of the text, only write the following:"SIGNOFF AIRLINE".