Southwest Airlines has announced route expansions for Southern California and Greater Los Angeles on its summer 2026 schedules, with two brand-new Hawaii routes, additional capacity towards the Pacific Northwest, and extra daily departures from San Diego.
The new Hawaii routes will serve Honolulu’s Daniel K. Inouye International Airport direct out of Ontario International from June, and out of Hollywood-Burbank Airport from August. They will take the major US low-cost carrier, which only started flying to Hawaii in 2019, to a total of 10 routes between Honolulu and the US mainland.
Further new services for August will be Long Beach departures to Portland, Oregon, and to the Seattle-Tacoma route, both operating six times a week; and a daily route out of San Diego International to Santa Barbara, marking the carrier’s 44th destination out of California’s birthplace. At the same time, at the start of August, the carrier is also set to double its existing offer of daily returns from San Diego to Portland, to Seattle-Tacoma, and to Salt Lake City.
Southwest Airlines new routes:
— Ishrion Aviation (@IshrionA) November 25, 2025
• Burbank (BUR) to Honolulu (HNL)
• Ontario (ONT) to Honolulu (HNL)
• San Diego (SAN) to Santa Barbara (SBA)
• Long Beach (LGB) to Portland (PDX)
• Long Beach (LGB) to Seattle (SEA) pic.twitter.com/jr46SsDTfg
In a press release, Southwest highlighted that its August and September peak day schedules would hit a record-breaking high of 139 departures in 2026. It’s an interesting focus on the so-called “shoulder season” towards the end of the summer, which the airline describes as “Southwest’s peak season in San Diego.”
Although Department of Transportation figures show Southwest is already the largest carrier at Long Beach, the latest capacity gains have been made possible in part by new facilities in San Diego and Burbank. Adam Decaire, Senior Vice President, Network Planning and Network Operations Control at Southwest Airlines, said the infrastructure investment would mean the airline is “positioned to continue offering more for customers in Southern California and beyond for many years to come.”
Though Southwest connects to 117 airports across 11 countries, the California expansion could signal a potential turf-war, the Points Guy says, noting that the increases to Southwest schedules follow similar announcements by Alaska Airlines, a key west coast market rival which boasts hubs in San Diego and Portland, destinations where it too has been growing seat capacity.
Southwest has also been making changes to its customer experience, redesigning cabins, making free T-Mobile-powered Wi-Fi available to all its Rapid Rewards® Members, and, controversially, introducing assigned and premium seating instead of its well-known open seating policy. Despite attracting criticism from some Southwest traditionalists, Southwest recently won Best Airline in USA Today’s 2025 Readers’ Choice Awards, as well as Best Inflight Entertainment and Best Cabin Crew.
