Lately, air travel out of Southwest Florida has felt more unpredictable than ever. For folks avoiding the long drives to Orlando, Miami, or Tampa, the closest airports are in flux, and it’s hard to know what’s next.
Let’s start with Punta Gorda Airport (PGD). If you’ve passed through recently, you’ve definitely seen (and heard) the construction. The Bailey Terminal Expansion is in full swing, with new gates, bigger TSA checkpoints, better baggage handling, and even a whole new rental car center. The aim’s clear: handle the area’s growth and make flying less of a hassle.
Allegiant Air is busy behind the scenes, too. Instead of running their ground ops themselves, they brought in Avflight, a Michigan-based company, and moved local staff to Avflight with guaranteed seniority, better pay, and extra travel perks. That’s good news for the people working the lines, but Allegiant cut two routes from PGD during a major nationwide reshuffling, cutting 61 routes at seven airports across the country. PGD is pressing ahead with its $44 million expansion (should wrap up by 2027) and picked up new direct flights to New Jersey’s Trenton-Mercer. Passenger numbers are up, and the airport’s hired a Director of Air Service Development, Brian M. Solis, ready to chase more routes and airlines.
Spirit Airlines abruptly went under, the first major U.S. airline in decades to shut its doors for good. For Southwest Florida, this is huge. The shutdown wiped out thousands of affordable seats overnight, axed at least seven local flight corridors at RSW, and left travelers stranded, ticket counters dark, and around 200 local service employees out of a job, hundreds more if you count all of South Florida. Before its collapse, Spirit held about 3.5% of RSW’s market from October through March. Now? Fares are rising, as airlines face less competition.
The scramble to fill Spirit’s gap is on. Southwest Airlines jumped in fast, amping up its routes in Florida and adding new direct options out of Orlando. JetBlue stepped up, too, adding more seasonal and nonstop flights between Southwest Florida and New York. And passengers who depended on Spirit’s low prices have moved over to airlines like Frontier and JetBlue, both of which are quick to add flights and grab Spirit’s lost crowd.
Finally, there’s buzz coming from Naples: American Airlines is selling tickets between Naples and Charlotte, North Carolina, even though there’s no formal agreement in place yet. As of June 30, you could book a December 2nd round-trip ticket for $427 and up (not counting fees and taxes). Most signs suggest the deal will go through, but the airport board has yet to approve any contract, North Road Terminal construction remains unfinished, and the TSA has yet to give its approval. Negotiations look smooth so far, and nobody’s expecting major problems, a waiting game as everything falls into place.
This is just the beginning, so stay tuned as we announce more changes regarding air travel in Southwest Florida.
