wmbb.com - Southwest Airlines Coming to Bay County

Southwest Airlines Announces Service From Northwest Florida’s New International Airport, Near Panama City, Florida

Date: 10/21/2009 2:15:00 PM

Southwest Airlines and The St. Joe Company Enter Into Strategic Alliance to Land Jet Service at Region’s Newest Airport; Carrier Plans Start-Up to Multiple Destinations in May 2010

DALLAS, Oct. 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/—Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) today announces its intent to begin jet service from Northwest Florida’s new international airport near Panama City, Florida in May 2010. The planned service is made possible through a strategic alliance agreement developed between Southwest and The St. Joe Company (NYSE: JOE), one of Florida’s largest landowners and real estate developers. The new airport will introduce daily jet service to the Northwest Florida Gulf Coast, providing Southwest Customers easy access to its stunning white-sand beaches and vibrant communities. For more information on the Northwest Florida Gulf Coast, please visit www.thebeachfla.com.

Southwest has not released specific service details, saying only that it will add at least two daily nonstop flights from Northwest Florida to four destinations across its 68 airport network for a total of eight daily nonstop flights when it begins service next year. Northwest Florida will be the first international airport to open in the nation in more than a decade. The new international airport is currently under construction and is scheduled to open in May 2010. Specific details on Southwest’s fares and schedule will be available in December 2009.

“I am certain our more than 90 million annual Customers will be delighted to learn they are now free to hit Florida’s white-sand beaches with Southwest Airlines’ great, low-fare service from across the nation’s largest airline network, taking Northwest Florida visitors off the roadways and into the airways,” said Gary Kelly, Southwest’s Chairman of the Board, President, and CEO. “I would like to applaud the ingenuity and hard work that both Southwest and St. Joe leadership poured into this unique agreement.” Kelly said.

“Southwest’s arrival in Northwest Florida is expected to stimulate job growth, economic development, and give travelers more of the options they’ve been seeking,” said Britt Greene, President and CEO of St. Joe. “St. Joe is the largest landowner in Northwest Florida with hundreds of thousands of acres in the service area of the new airport site. Southwest will help position Northwest Florida as one of America’s leading beach destinations. At the same time, this region is also home to one of the world’s most important defense aerospace economic clusters anchored by U.S. Air Force, Navy, and Army aviation installations.”

A number of regional organizations are assisting in launching the service. Coastal Vision 3000, the Northwest Florida business group that created the regional destination brand, “The Beach,” is participating in the initiative. The Bay County Tourism Development Council and The South Walton Tourism Development Council have pledged marketing resources. The Panama City - Bay County International Airport and Industrial District has worked hard to enable new air service.

The Company will release additional details regarding its future Panama City service in the coming months. The airline’s entry into Florida’s panhandle will be made possible in part by the airline optimizing its current flight schedule and repositioning aircraft.

Additional Information
Additional information with respect to the terms of the strategic alliance agreement between Southwest and St. Joe, including financial obligations, will be available in a Form 8-K that will be filed by St. Joe with the Securities and Exchange Commission today.

To view a blog post on this news, visit: http://www.blogsouthwest.com.

About Southwest
After 38 years of service, Southwest Airlines, the nation’s leading low-fare carrier, continues to stand above other airlines—offering a reliable product with exemplary Customer Service. Southwest Airlines is the most productive airline in the sky and offers Customers a comfortable traveling experience with all premium leather seats and plenty of legroom. Southwest recently updated its gate areas and improved its boarding procedure to make flying Southwest Airlines even more convenient. Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) currently serves 67 cities in 34 states (Service to Milwaukee begins Nov. 1 making it our 68th). Based in Dallas, Southwest currently operates more than 3,200 flights a day and has nearly 35,000 Employees systemwide.

More information about Southwest can be found at our web site at http://www.southwest.com

About St. Joe
The St. Joe Company (NYSE: JOE), a publicly held company based in Jacksonville, is one of Florida’s largest real estate development companies and Northwest Florida’s largest private landowner. St. Joe is primarily engaged in real estate development and sales, with significant interests in timber.

More information about JOE can be found on its web site at www.joe.com.

SOURCE Southwest Airlines Co. - Click Here for official Southwest Airlines Release

FYI - In response to Southwest Airlines’ announcement at 1 p.m. today that it will be coming to Panama City’s new airport, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson had the following reaction:

“The Panhandle has so much to recommend it,” said U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, a leading advocate of the new airport serving the region. “I know that as more and more people and businesses learn about the area, we’ll attract even more jobs and opportunities.”

BOYD STATEMENT ON SOUTHWEST COMING TO BAY COUNTY

Southwest Airlines CEO announces service from Northwest Florida-Panama City International Airport to begin in May 2010

WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Allen Boyd (D-North Florida) today released the following statement regarding Southwest Airline’s announcement that the low-cost carrier will come to the new Northwest Florida-Panama City International Airport when it opens in May 2010:

“Today’s announcement by Southwest is great news for Bay County and the entire North Florida region. In addition to easier, cheaper travel for residents and tourists alike, Southwest’s presence at the new airport will bring numerous economic benefits to the area, including new jobs and incentives for small business development. This achievement is a testament to the hard work of countless members of the Bay County community.”

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Southwest Airlines Coming to Bay County
10/21/09 - 12:02 PM

WMBB News Department

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Bay County, Fla:

Airport officials announce that Southwest Airlines is coming to Bay County.

Service will begin after the new airport, the Northwest Florida-Panama City International, opens in West Bay. The anticipated opening is scheduled for May 2010. We’re not yet sure where flights will go just yet but we do know that there will be 8 trips a day to 4 destinations.

The announcement was made via video conference Wednesday as hundreds gathered in anticipation at the new airport site. Those in attendance included representatives from the following organizations: the Airport Authority, Coastal Vision 300/THE Beach, Bay County Tourism Development Council, Bay County Economic Development Alliance, Bay County Chamber of Commerce, Panama City Beach Chamber of Commerce, Walton County Tourism Development Council, Beaches of South Walton, Walton County Economic Development Alliance and the Walton Area Chamber of Commerce. The attendees also included dignitaries Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp and State Representative Jimmy Patronis.

Southwest is the largest domestic air carrier. More than 35,000 employees work for Southwest. It’s not clear at this time how many jobs would be provided by the addition of the Northwest Florida-Panama City International Airport.

Southwest, a publicly traded company, is based in Dallas, TX. According to their website, Southwest flies more than 500 Boeing 737 aircraft between 67 cities in the United States. The addition of Panama City will bring that number to 68.

Both Walton and Bay County Tourism Development Councils recently increased their bed taxes in support of marketing efforts for the new airport.

Other airports in the area have been working to get Southwest including the Pensacola Regional Airport and the Northwest Florida Regional Airport in Fort Walton Beach.

In addition to the announcement of Southwest, airport visitors were also able to take a look at the progression of the construction at the site. Insulation is now going in at the building and windows are being put up.

Click Here to read the Panama City-Bay County International Airport News Release

User Comments

Oh, by the way, can you make one of those four destinations Baltimore/Washington Intl? K thanks

YAY! I for one am very excited about this, Im sick of driving to Jax to get to the nearest direct flight, then back again to get kids after a week. Thank you, thank you, thank you, St Joe!

athena you must be right, because all of the haters on here havent given one, be it a sound argument or just an oppion, reason why they feel the way they do?

Woohoo!! An end to the monopoly!

With Southwest jumping on board, I wonder how many other airlines might also want a stake in our new airport?

And Gator, I think most of them must be tree-huggers, to hate St. Joe so badly. Or it’s sour grapes, since they didn’t think to buy up all the land ages ago when it was so cheap, like St. Joe did.

Whoa! This is great news. Wonder how much St. Joe Company had to pay Southwest Airlines to pull their butts out of the fire on this one. A pretty penny I’m sure, but a drop in the bucket for St. Joe who stand to make billions because of their landholding in the area. If they can get a low cost airline in here, more power to them; as long as I don’t have to pay for it with my tax money.

im sorry but who cares? alot of people just hate st joe company so much they cant see the forest for the trees? what has st joe done that is so bad? ive lived here all my life and the only thing i know that they did that was bad was shut down the papermill? i mean if they bring good paying jobs here or even jobs that would be nice.

So who’s really running this new airport show - the airport board or the St. Joe company? All this hubbub over the past few weeks about which airport would get Southwest and now we see by the looks of the news release - it was always going to be the new airport - because of the “strategic agreement” between Southwest and St. Joe. I think I hear the St. Joe company saying “Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.”

Well if they can offer me a Flight to NYC like Tallahassee does ($202.00 round trip)then they have my business - but from past experience with Bay County Airport I doubt they can match that - cause they are all about the $$$$$

Great! Too good to be true. retired here after a career with United and have had to drive to Atlanta for a decent fare because of Delta’s outrageous lock on the market. Maybe these guys will bring some long needed sensible pricing to the whole market out of NW Fla.

wait, that cant be? all those people said that the new airport was going to be a huge flop, were wrong? cant believe it?

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