Earlier this month, the Lubbock Chamber of Commerce partnered with the City of Lubbock, Texas Tech University, and Covenant Health to conduct visits with representatives from United Airlines and Southwest Airlines. The visits stemmed from a survey the Chamber sent out last year regarding air travel needs for local businesses that utilize the Lubbock Airport.

The survey found that many business travelers were searching for flights that were better timed and additional non-stop options to their destinations. Respondents also indicated overwhelmingly that they intended to travel just as much as or more in 2020 than they did last year. With that in mind, representatives from the Chamber, the Lubbock Airport, the Lubbock Economic Development Alliance, Covenant, Texas Tech, and Mayor Dan Pope arranged some visits with the airlines that service Lubbock. 
 

The discussions were productive, beginning with a trip to Chicago to meet with United Airlines. The Lubbock delegation expressed how much United’s existing service to Lubbock was helpful to area residents and businesses. They also shared results from the survey as well as some economic forecasts showing how much Lubbock would grow in the years to come. Additional flights and routes were discussed, and United agreed to consider new flights into Lubbock during heavy tourism weekends (i.e. Texas Tech graduations, football games, etc.) as a test run for potential permanent routes.

Following this meeting, the group flew to Dallas to meet with Southwest Airlines. Southwest has a majority of the market share in Lubbock and many business people indicated on the Chamber’s survey that they utilize Southwest’s loyalty program.

Southwest offers many flights to Dallas and has recently expanded non-stop service to Denver with a non-stop to Houston coming in April of this year. The representatives from Southwest said they would like to explore the option of coming to Lubbock to partner with more businesses that utilize their loyalty program, and also said they agreed there was a need for additional non-stop service to Austin.

All in all, the trip was great in terms of simply building a relationship with the airlines that serve Lubbock. Change in the airline industry is never quick, but the airlines now have a better understanding of the economic conditions in Lubbock as well as the existing and future needs of the business community. We look forward to facilitating future conversations with airline representatives and working to meet the needs of our members when it comes to air travel.

If you have any questions, concerns or recommendations for any further air travel discussions we'd love to hear from you. Please contact Kyle Jacobson at Kyle.jacobson@lubbockbiz.org or call the Chamber at (806) 761-7000.