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Southwest Airlines

Southwest grows out West, adds two Salt Lake City-California routes

Ben Mutzabaugh
USA TODAY
A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 lands at Boise Airport on March 12, 2016.

Southwest Airlines is adding two new destination from Salt Lake City

The carrier will launch the California routes on March 9, adding daily nonstop service to both Burbank and Sacramento. Southwest will offer two daily round-trips on the Burbank route and one to Sacramento.

Southwest will go-head-to-head on both routes against Delta, which operates a large connecting hub at Salt Lake City.

The new routes comes as Southwest has looked to bolster its position in California. Southwest is already one of the top carriers within the state, offering near-hourly flight schedules between several California cities. Southwest also is one of the top carriers at several of California’s biggest airports.

But the competition for California airline passengers has intensified. Alaska Airlines’ proposed merger with California-based Virgin America would make that combined carrier a juggernaut in the state. Each already has a strong presence in California, something that would be further enhanced in a merger.

Additionally, United has been growing its San Francisco hub while American and Delta each have been bolstering their hubs at Los Angeles. JetBlue also has added service in several California markets while the nation’s “ultra low-cost carriers” Spirit, Frontier and Allegiant also have been adding routes from the state.

"As the carrier that flies more travelers to, from, and within Californiathan anyone else, Southwest continues its work to thoughtfully connect Californians to destinations that matter for work and leisure travel," Leah Koontz, Southwest Airlines' VP & Controller, says in a statement.

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