Southwest says it’s still the biggest carrier in the state, and it’s adding more flying to prove it
Southwest Airlines is adding a fresh round of California routes and frequencies for late summer 2026 as part of what it’s calling its “Golden State Growth” push. The airline detailed the additions in a press release from Southwest’s own newsroom, also filed with investors on the company’s investor relations site.
What’s new out of San Diego and the Los Angeles area
Starting August 4, 2026, Southwest launched daily nonstop service between Santa Barbara and San Diego, while doubling its daily roundtrips between San Diego and Portland, Salt Lake City and Seattle. Those additions helped push San Diego to an all-time high of 139 peak-day departures during the August-September 2026 period, according to the airline’s release.
Southwest also began peak-day service between Hollywood Burbank Airport and Honolulu on August 4, adding to the daily Ontario-to-Honolulu route it launched in June. Long Beach picked up new six-day-a-week service to both Portland and Seattle starting August 4 as well, building on Southwest’s position as the largest carrier operating out of that airport.
Why Southwest is leaning into California right now
“For more than 25 years, we’ve served more destinations and carried more customers than any other airline in California,” said Adam Decaire, Southwest’s senior vice president of network planning and operations, in the release. The airline says it remains California’s largest carrier by both measures, and it’s pairing the new routes with cabin changes that mark one of the biggest shifts in Southwest’s history.
Southwest’s own customer-enhancements page confirms the carrier ended its decades-old open-seating model in 2026, introducing assigned seats with Extra Legroom, Preferred and Standard tiers, plus a new numbered boarding system. The Golden State Growth release ties those changes directly to the California expansion, pointing to complimentary Wi-Fi for Rapid Rewards members and expanded in-seat power as its redesigned Boeing 737-8 aircraft roll out across the network.
Fares for the new routes were bookable through September 30, 2026, at the time of the announcement. For West Coast travelers, the practical upshot is more nonstop options between secondary California airports and both Pacific Northwest cities and Hawaii, without needing to connect through one of the state’s larger hubs.
