Southwest Airlines is discontinuing its route from Atlanta to Boston, just as Delta Air Lines upgrades its Boston operation to a hub.
The nonstop flights between Hartsfield-Jackson International and Boston Logan International are cut from Southwest's schedule effective Jan. 6.
The decision was “based on extensive performance reviews,” according to Southwest, which said the change will allow it to offer more flights where demand warrants it.
“We are always evaluating our service patterns and performance to ensure that we are offering the right number of seats for the community based on demand from travelers,” Southwest said in a written statement.
Boston is the newest hub for Atlanta-based Delta, where the airline says it is the No. 1 global carrier and growing.
Travelers will still be able to get to Boston on Southwest by connecting through Baltimore-Washington International or Nashville, for example.
Dallas-based Southwest is the second-largest carrier at the Atlanta airport, behind behemoth Delta.
Southwest flies to cities across the country from Atlanta, but it doesn’t fly everywhere.
For example, there are no nonstop Southwest flights from Atlanta to Detroit, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Cincinnati and Memphis -- all of which are Delta hubs or former hubs.
And Southwest also doesn’t fly nonstop from Atlanta to southeastern destinations Charleston, Charlotte, Panama City and Louisville -- which may have lighter demand for flights because they are within driving distance for vacationers.
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